Lost Boys
by zeldahearts1337
Summary: The Destiny Islands are gone. Its sole survivors are Sora and Riku, now living in Traverse Town and horribly traumatized by the event. Riku might have coped better, but Sora is no longer the saint he was: bitter, depressed, and angry at the world for his life so far. Their paths have changed, but they shall find Destiny is never left to chance... AU, R&R plz REWRITE IN PROGRESS
1. Chapter 1

A boy, wearing clothes obviously threadbare and baggy, started climbing a ladder. The spindly thing ran up the side of a set of apartments in the warmly colored, neon strewn town, it worn state suggesting many had used it before.

The boy couldn't have been older than fifteen, with his caramel spikes hanging in front of his tired blue eyes. At first glance he looked like an ordinary teen, but closer inspection revealed an age and weight to him that signified he had grown up long before a proper time.

His jacket was black, long sleeved and too light for the weather, with white on the edges, with an equally black shirt underneath. Except for the stylized emblem, a heart that looked to be covered in thorns or barbed wire, that was a serene white against the darkness. His jeans were dark blue, and held against his thin frame by a well used belt. The shoes he wore looked almost clown like, with the way they ballooned out at the end and the vibrant shade of yellow that dominated about half of them.

The young man then pulled himself onto a narrow pathway and began walking, letting out frosty puffs of breath in an effort to keep his hands warm. The fingerless gloves he wore did little to keep out the cold. After walking to the very end of the precarious walkway, he pulled up to a shabby door and attempted to open it.

He cursed, finding it was locked and his roommate hadn't come home yet. Continuing to mutter, he reached behind a set of garbage bins and pulled out a threadbare blanket used for these situations, wrapped it around himself, and sank against the graffiti covered wall.

"Riku of all the days...! Ugh! I hate winter..." He grumbled, trying to keep himself warm in the chill. He especially payed attention to his hands:

Get frostbite, lose use of his hands. Lose that, and lose half, or more, of the income he and his friend gathered. He forced his train of thought to stop there. Becoming homeless was not an option he wanted to relive.

"Stupid winter and its dumb coldness..." He said as he continued to rubs his hands and curse himself and his partner for their lives. It didnt help that today wasn't a good day in his memory, and it never went well.

Deciding there was no use fighting the cold, he closed his eyes, focusing on memories of his younger days... When things were rosy, filled with sunshine and friends. He felt nostalgic, wistful, longing for the islands he had called home for his first four years of life. Imaginary laughter started ringing in his ears, he could almost feel the sunshine, smell the salty air... But the dream slowly descended into a nightmare, his beloved home starting to fall apart. He started shivering violently, reliving everything he loved being torn away from him-

"Is it really that cold out here?" A quiet, thoughtful voice innterrupted him. The boy opened his eyes to see his companion standing over him. His friend was a year older than him, but he could've appeared even more aged: his hair was stark white. His skin was paler, and his eyes were teal rather than blue. His clothes were the same: black jacket and jeans, but they were a better fit, and the jacket's collar huddled around his neck. The boy noticed his friend shivering as the taller teen said "It's really not that cold..."

"Who said it was cold, Riku?" The boy stood as his roommate unlocked the door. It wasn't much warmer inside, but at least it was warm-_er._ Riku laughed darkly "Oh, so it's not the cold you were thinking of, Sora?" Sora only brushed past him, not saying anything. He instantly flopped onto a broken couch they moved from the dump, burying his face in a homemade pillow and refusing to move.

Riku walked after him, closing and locking the door behind him without a word. He then mode into the small kitchenette they had and began scraping together a suitable meal.

Silence passed for serveral moments before Riku said "You know you're gonna need to eat at some point."

A muffled, angry response came "I don't care."

"Hmm, I actually bothered to make something nice." Riku continued goading Sora into eating.

"I'm just gonna sit here and starve myself to death."

"That's a pretty slow one, ya know."

"Better than those damn Heartless." Riku thought about this response for a moment, then said

"Funny, I figured you'd want to go down in battle."

Sora sounded less angry and more... Sad. "I'm fine with anything as long as it not the Heartless."

"Why? At least with Heartless you have the mercy of it being quick." Riku started portioning out tonight's meal: some Raman and chicken, nothing fancy.

Sora's voice getting louder signaled that he had finally given up stuffing his face into a pillow "How the hell is it quick?!"

Riku winced slightly, then responded "It's faster than starving."

"Oh, have you forgotten what makes a Heartless kill you?" The sadness in Sora's voice waned again, being replaced with bitter sarcasm "Gee, maybe it's the fact that they _rip out your heart, eat it, and turn you into a Heartless as well._"

"..."

"Exactly Riku! Even if it's quick at first, you'd still have years where you wandered as a despicable creature that no one loved or respected, with your only source of food trying to kill you every moment, and no shelter whatsoever. The only way you'd _truly_die would be if a Keyblade weilder like you or me came along and ended your suffering!"

Several more tense moments passed. Sora then said "I'm gonna go to our room-"

"Not before having dinner you aren't." Riku grabbed Sora's hand and practically dragged him to the table. Sora resisted, but moments later he was picking at his meal glumly. Riku noted that his friend's mood wasn't improving, and said "Well I have some good news,"

"Not interested..." Sora sighed.

"Cid's place got broken into-"

Sora paused, then snapped "How the hell is that _good_?!"

"It was a Heartless-"

"Even worse!"

"It's been happening more and more often, so he hired me to take care of the problem."

Sora once again stopped. "Wait... Like, every day, take care?" He asked with a numb sense of hope. Riku nodded enthusiastically.

"...A steady job...?"

Another nod.

"Oh my God I'm gonna hug Cid next time I see him." Sora said, a ghost of a smile lingering of his face. Riku, having already finished, went to the freezer "I guess since you're gonna starve yourself, I'll just have to eat all this celebratory ice cream by myself!"

Sora's jaw dropped when Riku pulled out two Sea-Salt ice creams. "No way!" He gasped. Then he tried to grasp the special treat, squirming around Riku in an attempt to reach his prize "Just gimme it already!"

"Not until you finish up."

Sora sat back down and began eating as fast as he could. Which began slowly, as the meal had already cooled, tasting not quite as good as it could have been. "Eurgh, forgot how nasty this tastes when you let it sit."

"Well that's your fault." Riku smiled, knowing Sora was becoming more amicable, more like his old self-

There was a knock at the door. Riku was about to go answer it when Sora pushed himself away from the table, opened the door, and said irritably "What do you... Want?"

The two travelers that met his gaze were quite unexpected. An anthropomorphic dog and duck, to be precise. The duck was short, looking just about as grumpy as Sora usually was, while the dog had one hand in the air, obviously being the one who knocked, and looking rather gentlemanly.

"Oh, um, me and my friend Donald were just wondering if we could stay here for the night. Are your parents okay with that-?"

Riku winced as Sora yelled "What, do you think I can't-mph!" Riku had quickly walked over and placed his hand over Sora's mouth "Of course you two can."

They smiled as Riku ushered them inside. Sora, meanwhile, threw dagger glares at him. Riku payed no mind and said a cheerily as he could "It's not much, but it's shelter enough to live in."

"Thanks... Uh, what's yer name?" The dog said, realizing he hadn't asked for it.

"I'm Riku, and my partner here is Sora."

The duck finally spoke, raspy and just barely legible enough to understand "I'm Donald and he's Goofy. Are your parents around or are you two living on your own?"

Sora violently twitched, then said in a flat, furious voice "They're **DEAD**."

Both Donald and Goofy blinked, then said "Oh..." quietly. Riku noted Sora's behavior taking another dip, and he said "Sora, you can leave if you want."

Sora instantly left, a slam later signaling that he had retired to his room.

"Gwarsh, we didn't mean to bring anything up." Goofy said, apologetic.

"He could at least hold his temper." Donald added a little too callously.

Riku shrugged "It's the 11th anniversary. He's normally grumpy and bitter, but it usually escalates a little today." Riku frowned, looking tired "He really used to be a sweet kid. Always smiling, always happy, always laughing and curious..."

Riku trailed off in a sigh, realizing just how far Sora had fallen.

"If ya don't mind me askin'," Goofy began reluctantly "what exactly happened?" Donald elbowed him soon after, but Riku shook his head "It's alright. We haven't been able to really get it off our chests because there's been no one to talk to except ourselves."

He took a deep breath "So, the whole mess began 11 years ago..."

* * *

Okay, I know the response I'm gonna get:

"Why aren't you working on other stuff?!"  
"Aren't you getting tired of this kind of thing?!"  
"(Random mix of complaints and praise here)"

I just got the thought if Ven and Vanitas forged the X-Blade at the Destiny Islands rather than the Keyblade Graveyard, that place would get destroyed early, and Sora and Riku would get tossed into the whole "Multiple worlds" mess WAY before their time. Made Sora a grumpy cynic, because I think it'd be interesting to imagine his character in this light, and focus on ways to bring it back to how he is normally portrayed as.

Title is a shout out to my friend here on FF who absolutely loves that Movie/Show/I forget which.


	2. Chapter 2

Sora, lying down on his creaky bed, couldn't help but hear Riku's muffled voice as he began explaining things to Donald and Goofy. He shifted some, trying to block out the conversation with the squeaks.

_'Couldn't get it off our chests' my ass..._ Sora thought, _I'VE been able to move on..._

_Only because you shove it away. _A smaller part of him said.

Sora folded his hands behind his head and stared at the wall. On it was a small calendar that said "_ days without attempting suicide." With an inappropriate smiley next to it. The blank was filled in with 14, but looked worn down from being erased over and over. Sora sighed, knowing that Riku had made that for him years ago. He had never gone beyond one month, so he didn't know why it was kept up. _It's still there, and it shoves back..._ the small part piped up again.

Sora made sure that Riku was preoccupied, and then held out his hand. A key shimmered into its grip with a small ping. He felt himself starting to fight with his own urges:

_Just ram it into you!_

**_But what would Riku think?_**

_Screw Riku! He doesn't care anymore either!_

_**He does...!**_

_Where's the proof?!_

_**He still looks out for me...**_

_And how is that proof? For all you know, he could be dead tired of taking care of a whiny brat like you!_

**_But..._**

Sora felt a few tears roll over. He dismissed the Kingdom Key without another thought and rolled over again. He didn't like crying, not one bit, and yet he found himself shaking out a few quiet sobs. NOTHING had gone right since he was four. He had been starving, lost, homeless, exhausted... Every night he wondered what was the point of living. He felt himself drift away 11 years...

...

_A sweet, innocent little boy was running down a sandy beach._

_"R-Riku! Wait...!" He giggled, trying to beat his friend, who was already close to the bridge they had deemed the finish line._

_"Too slow Sora!" His friend laughed back as he crossed the threshold. Sora arrived soon after, panting "Oh come on Riku! I was just going easy!"_

_Riku chuckled "Just like yesterday?"_

_"Well I just like going easy on you!" Sora snapped, trying to find an excuse. "Besides, you can't- huh? Riku what's wrong?" Sora followed his friends gaze to find two young men._

_One of them was the very personification of dark, with a body suit of what looked like black muscle covering him head to toe. His head was hidden in a helmet of dark, smoky glass. He was pressing what looked like a set of chained gears against the other boy he held in his grip._

_The other boy could've been the same age, around fifteen or so. His hair was a bright gold, spiked upward with bangs almost, but not quite, covering his blue eyes. He wore clothes that looked a little strange to be on the islands, consisting of a jacket, vest, long pants, and various bits of green, blue, and brass colored armor. He looked stern, but worry crept at the edges of his expression. He was a personification of light, rather then darkness._

_"Listen here, punk," the dark boy began "we're going to forge the X-Blade wether you want to or not."_

_The light boy squirmed a little, saying "I told you I'm not fighting!"_

_"Hey." Riku said, causing both of the boys to turn their heads "What are you doing?"_

_The light boy tried to say something, but the dark boy beat him to it "Were just having some big boy fun. Run along now, nothing to see here."_

_Riku shook his head "It doesn't look like _he's_ having fun." He pointed to the light boy. The dark boy sighed, and snapped "Just go off and play with your dumb friend there, okay?!"_

_"Hey!" Sora yelled back, but Riku held up his hand to silence him._

_"Go get your dad, okay?" He said softly._

_"Riku what about-"_

_"Go get your dad, Sora. I'll keep an eye on these two."_

_"Okay."_

_Sora rushed off to get his father, too busy wondering about how he got insulted to worry about Riku. _I'll show them I'm not stupid!_ He thought just as he reached his father._

_"Hey dad! There are these two weird kids who are playing some weird game next to the bridge!" Sora said. At first his father didn't pay complete attention, saying "That's nice, Sora. How about you make some new friends-"_

_"One of them was really mean and called me stupid!"_

_Sora's father patted his head, saying "You're not, Sora, you're a very bright young man-"_

_"Then theres the guy who's up against the wall and looks really scared-"_

_At that point Sora's father realized what his son was trying to say, and started rushing over. "Thank you for telling me Sora." He said hurriedly. Sora followed, asking "Why are you rushing, dad?"_

_"Because they're not playing." Was his only response._

_Sora's father instantly bellowed "Oy! Break it up you two!"_

_The dark boy backed away, but kept his odd little sword pressed against the light boy. "What do you want?" He sighed._

_"What are you doing treating him like that? Now put that thing down." Sora's father sounded furious._

_The dark boy sighed, then once again directed his attention on the light boy "You know, this doesn't concern you-" the light boy suddenly swung at him with another funny looking sword(was he holding that a few seconds ago?), then took the opportunity to scramble down the beach._

_The dark boy, after pausing in confusion, suddenly growled and dashed after the other boy yelling "GET BACK HERE VENTUS!"_

_The light boy(apparently Ventus, but Sora wasn't sure because it was such a _weird_name)heard the yell, and looked behind him. His stern composure had crumbled, and he looked terrified. He turned back around, continuing to run. The dark boy leapt at his prey, and Sora yelled "HEY! BEHIND YOU!"_

_The light boy turned around completely, pausing for only a second before rolling away. The dark boy's blade dug into the sand where he was moments later. The light boy held out his sword in defense as the dark boy began slashing at him, using clouds of what Sora could only label as darkness._

_"Come on!" Sora yelled encouragingly "You can take him-!"_

_"Stop it right now!" Sora's father disagreed "There are children on this island!"_

_The light boy faltered. He then cried out in pain as the dark boy slashed open his side. Blood started marring the white sand. "Come on...!" Sora whispered "Come on you can win!"_

_Soon, the two boys were growing tired, Sora, his father, and Riku still not seeing a safe opportunity to go home. The fight was lingering too close to the docks to risk a break for their small boat._

_"Come on Ven, it's not that hard to merge with me and make the X-blade!" the dark boy said in almost insane laughter._

_"Dad," Sora said softly "He's starting to scare me."_

_Sora's father patted his shoulder "He scares me too."_

_The light boy, panting, tired, worn, saw the small, scared group. He looked so regretful. He suddenly latched his blade with the dark boy's, looking resolute. "You're not touching them Vanitas! The only real place for the X-Blade to be forged is the Keyblade Graveyard and you know it!"_

_The dark boy only shook his head "So what if a tiny world like this gets destroyed? It's just one loss-" the light boy suddenly grabbed him, a light forming between the two_

_"If you're not gonna care, then I'm gonna have to take you with me!" His cry became louder and more anguished moments later. Sora wasn't sure of what was going on, but it sounded like the boy was definitely hurting badly from this encounter. Sora eventually turned away, finding the light too bright to look at._

_When he turned back, it was only the boy. A storm was forming, winds picking up to hurricane strength in only seconds. Sora's father picked up a large pice of driftwood, and said "Sora, you and Riku get out of here." Riku nodded, and rushed off._

_Sora remained._

_"But dad-" Sora's father turned around, looking stern and shaking his head "It's not gonna be safe for you for awhile. Go with Riku-" he was suddenly cut short._

_Sora felt numb as his father's blood splattered onto him. The sword blade lodged in his father's chest vanished with a wet sound, and he fell forward._

_"Dad...?" Sora whispered before looking up to find the boy psychotically grinning at him. His eyes were golden now, and cold._

_"Aww! Blood looks so _cute_ on you!" He crooned mockingly with two jarring voices. Sora didn't know what to do:_

_His body said run._

_His heart said stay._

_His mind was silent._

_The boy raised the sword in his hand, but paused before bringing it down. His eyes became blue again, and remorseful. He stared at the blood on his sword and on Sora, then quickly dropped to his knees, reaching out to hold the boy. Sora flinched away._

_"No, no wait! I don't have much time to explain!" The boy said hurriedly. The only reason Sora stayed was because he felt so much sadness coming from the boy. He was scary, with two voices, and his other eye starting to turn golden, but Sora stayed so he could at least help ease the sadness. "Can you do a few things for me?!" Sora nodded _

_"Okay then, first, at least hold this for just a second." The boy held out his sword. Sora reluctantly grasped it, feeling the power that steadily throbbed in it. It was too heavy, and he accidentally let the blade dig into the boy's shoulder. He winced, gasped a little, then gently took the sword back. For some reason unknown to Sora then, the heat and power that came from it didn't leave._

_The boy then asked "That other boy, the one with the white hair... Riku was it?" Sora again nodded numbly "He's your friend right?" Another nod "Whatever happens, stay by his side. Don't leave him, okay?"_

_"...O-of course..." One eye was completely gold, the other about halfway._

_"And the last thing." The boy started backing away, clutching his head with one hand_

_"Run. Get out of here."_

_Sora complied fully to that one, scrambling away the moment he began the word 'run'. He yelled- no, screamed for Riku, trying to find his friend. He thought he heard more yells behind him, and he looked back._

_The boy was saying something, and Sora couldn't understand what- He bumped into Riku..._

_..._

Sora halted the memory there. He focused on what the boy was saying, moving his lips silently in an attempt to understand what he had said. It didn't take long.

"'I'm sorry'..." He said quietly. Rather than feeling relief, he felt anger explode inside of him.

"Sorry doesn't cut it...!" He hissed "Sorry doesn't bring back my life!" He stood from his bed, starting to pace. His Keyblade appeared in his hand, as it always did when he was mad.

He was feeling fury well up inside of him, and he couldn't contain it much longer.

* * *

"So when we got back together, we headed to our secret grotto. It looked like we were gonna be stuck there but..." Riku trailed off briefly. He held out his hand, Keyblade appearing in it

"These appeared, we each got one, and they guided us here. To Traverse Town. It took awhile for us to get this place, but we've been living here for 6 or so years."

Donald and Goofy stared at the Keyblade in Riku's hand for a moment before Goofy said "See Donald? I knew we should've come here! Gwarsh, King Mickey's gonna be so excited! Two more Keyblade wielders!"

"T-there's more than just us...?" Riku asked, a little stunned. Goofy nodded "Yep, our King, His Majesty Mickey Mouse, sent us out to lotsa different worlds to search for people like you and Sora."

"Well, to help with the Heartless too, but mostly to find people who can wield the Keyblade so we can train them properly to better cope with the Heartless." Donald added.

Riku asked "So... You're gonna take us away from here? A good home, and such?" They nodded. Riku sank back in his chair, wondering why Sora decided to skip this conversation-

There was a crash from their room. Riku didn't bother to say 'excuse me', he just scrambled away from the table, running. "Sora!" He opened the door to find Sora wrecking their room, looking furious, sad, lost. Sora charged at him in misguided wrath, but Riku quickly and easily disarmed him and wrapped him in a gentle hug.

"No Sora, shhh...shhh... Everything is perfectly okay..." He whispered, stroking Sora's hair while the broken teen sobbed and moaned gibberish. Mostly concerning what had happened, how he was scared, lost, alone. "Bud, everything is perfectly okay-"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes, yes it is, calm down Sora..." Riku noticed Donald and Goofy standing in the doorway, and he backed away slightly "Hey Sora, I'm gonna have to go talk with some people who are going to help us, okay?"

Sora snuffled like a child "Don't leave me Riku-"

"m not leaving you, I'll be right over there, okay?" Sora nodded, and Riku walked over to Donald and Goofy to explain

"We both don't know what happens. Just... sometimes something from our past is brought up and it triggers some kind of other mental state. He becomes violent and childish and depressed, and we just... don't know why it happens."

Donald and Goofy watched Sora, who stood unsteadily, tears flowing down his cheeks, sobs being the only other sound in the room. He looked frail, confused.

"This... Won't affect anything... Right?" Riku asked uncertainly. Donald looked at Goofy, who looked back. They both shook their heads. "A little therapy should help. King Mickey is a very accepting person. He would still accept you both and would make sure you were taken care of."

Riku smiled a little more, knowing a whole new chapter was opening for him and Sora.

* * *

Hey, people actually like this! weeee derp! next chapter I'll be introducing training at Disney Castle, and a certain friend of theirs... ;)

any questions about this AU, just pm or leave a review!


	3. Chapter 3

Sora had recovered from his mental breakdown, and was now staring at the vast reaches of space from the cockpit of a strange little ship Donald and Goofy called the Highwind. He didn't like how black and bleak it was, even with the dottings of the stars of other worlds.

He felt a stirring of light in his heart for the first time in ages: SOMETHING was finally going RIGHT. But... he was scared of that light. So used to facing the darkness of disappointment that this light of hope scared him. Something was going to happen, something was going to go wrong-

"Lighten up Sora," Riku playfully punched his shoulder "It's not that bad! You look like you're seeing dead people or something."

Sora smiled for only a second.

Goofy looked behind him and said "C'mon, Sora. This ship runs on happy faces! 'Sides, yer gonna love Disney Castle!"

Sora muttered "Happy faces, huh?" then made a grin that looked a little more psychotic than happy. Riku shrugged to Donald and Goofy, not really saying anything, but clearly apologizing for the lack of exercise in Sora's facial muscles. Goofy and Donald just smiled back, each giving a small thumbs up.

* * *

After showing Sora and Riku basic drills, Goofy decided they were more than ready for the advanced stuff. Near-perfect replicas of almost any battle situation: swarms of Shadows, Large Bodies and Soldiers, even Dustfliers. Sora and Riku couldn't help but appreciate how Goofy actually knew what he was doing with this kind of thing... Occasionally.

He stuck to his namesake, needless to say.

"Okay then, let's kick it up another notch-" Goofy began before he was interrupted by a female voice

"Uncle Goofy! You're back!"

Sora and Riku turned to find a girl around their age running to them. Her hair was a beautiful ruby red, with sapphire eyes to complement. There was a set of necklaces around her neck: a small white bead and a much larger blue stained glass star. She had a short-sleeved jacket on, white with gold borders and hood, with a white dress underneath that ended at mid-shin with a deep blue wave trim. She had on a pair of blue shoes, with slightly dirty white soles and a small hidden-Mickey buckle. She tackled Goofy, smiling warmly "You're back!"

Sora didn't know what was wrong with him. He couldn't help but stare at her beauty, hear everything in her melodious voice, feel the light that radiated from her heart. She tugged at his heart and demanded its attention. He felt dizzy, warm, and awkward in her presence. Sora felt his insides melt when she directed her smile at them, extended her hand, and said "Hi, I'm Kairi!"

Riku noticed Sora staring at Kairi. There was a vague look of love that crept below his hardened glare. The funny thing about that glare was it was the look Sora got when he wanted something.

Riku then accepted Kairi's hand. He was about to introduce them when Goofy beat him to it "This here is Sora and Riku, Kairi."

Kairi shook Riku's hand a little more exuberantly "Okay then, we can start being friends right now, Sora-" she noticed Sora still looking morose and redirected her train of thought "Oh, I almost forgot about you Riku!" She then grasped Sora's hand, the boy jolting at her warm and gentle touch. "We can be friends too! We can all be our own little circle-"

"Um, Kairi?" Riku began.

"Yeah Sora?"

"Um, I'M Riku. He's Sora."

Kairi blushed, and hastily apologized "Sorry! it's just Goofy introduced you in that order and I just supposed-"

"It's alright."

"-and Sora is such a happy sounding name and you seem so much nicer-"

"Hey! I can be nice!" Sora quipped "I just need more motivation than others!"

Kairi stared at Sora for several seconds, then shrugged her shoulders. "Well I guess you can. Every one has at least a sparkle of light in their heart."

Goofy interrupted them, saying "Say, Kairi have you been working on your cartwheels?" Kairi nodded, demonstrating by quickly cartwheeling back to Goofy "Mom says I've really improved!"

Sora grumbled "Dodge rolls are better." Riku lightly slapped him.

"So do Sora and Riku... Do they train with me too?" Kairi asked. For the first time her peppiness faded. It was brought right back up when Goofy agreed. "Okay then, I want to spar with Sora!" She summoned her Keyblade, a flowery and frail looking thing.

Sora laughed "Excuse me, but you're still working on cartwheels of all things!"

Kairi started turning as red as her hair.

"Gwarsh Kairi, they're a little advanced-"

Sora summoned his Keyblade and got ready for an easy fight "Fine, if you like disappointment." Riku held him back

"Sora she's-"

He suddenly let go as Kairi charged, yelling "En Garde!" Her attacks were more light than Sora's, but they were also more precise, hitting points on Sora's body that almost caused him to lose his footing.

"My dad taught me fencing!" she boasted.

But Sora had the advantage of being able to spot Kairi's tells, knowing when and where she would attack just by how she moved and what she said. Not to mention his experience vastly out weighed hers. Eventually, Kairi retreated, Sora taunting "What? You admitting you're not good enough?!"

Kairi, who was about to give up the fight, whirled around in tranquil fury, pointed her Keyblade at Sora, and said calmly

"Sparkga."

Sora blinked, not comprehending until crystals of light started assailing him. He started running then, finding that Kairi's strength wasn't in strength itself, it was in magic. BOY was it in magic.

"Kairi!" Goofy cried, sounding angry "You know it's only classes with Donald you're allowed to use spells in combat! Call it off right now!"

Kairi, still looking quite annoyed, dismissed her Keyblade in a shower of light, the projectiles chasing after Sora vanishing as well. Panting, Sora glared at her "That was uncalled for."

"Your entire attitude is uncalled for." Kairi said, although her anger had been replaced with something else.

Sora took the change in tone as pity, and he snapped "I don't need any of your sympathy!"

"You need love, that's for sure," Kairi said back, staying calm. Sora became completely red, and he yelled

"OH SO YOU THINK I NEED LOVE HUH?!" everyone was staring at the two now. Sora continued "LOVE IS WHAT GETS YOU KILLED OUT THERE! THE BAREST SYMPATHY EVEN A SHADOW KNOWS HOW TO EXPLOIT!"

Riku took a step forward "Sora calm down-"

"STAY OUT OF THIS!"

Kairi gently walked forward "You need help-"

"OH SO YOU THINK I'M CRAZY NOW?!" Sora was growing hysterical.

"No, but-" Kairi said before Goofy gently took Sora aside

"Ya know, how about you go get some time to yourself. There's a garden in the courtyard that's perfect." He suggested. Sora was trembling, with wrath or sadness no one was certain, but he nodded, shouldered his Keyblade and quickly walked towards the courtyard.

"I'm sorry," Riku turned to Kairi "We've had it rough, and Sora has-"

"Taken it a lot harder than you, am I right?"

Riku blinked "How did you-?"

"Kairi's a Princess Of Heart," Goofy explained "not a drop of darkness in her heart, but all the light and empathy one could need."

Riku noticed Kairi was crying "Hey, are you-?"

"Do you know what state he's in?" She whispered.

Riku shrugged "Sort of."

"His heart, I've never seen anything so hurt." She held her hand to her heart, still weeping. "There's wounds still bleeding, scars still hurting...! He's killing himself from the inside and he's shoving away every bit of help he gets!"

She then looked determined as she gathered her skirt and started following Sora "I'm going to help him-"

"He doesn't open up easily Kairi-"

She turned around, and Riku found it hard to argue with her fierce, tear-streaked face. "I am going to help him whether he wants it or not!" And she left without another word.

* * *

Yay for Kairi! three guesses on who her dad is, first two don't count!


	4. Chapter 4

Sora quickly walked through the large, mostly empty halls. He was confused, torn between heartache and hatred.

Kairi had seen the hurt in his heart, she had seen his weakness. He didn't like it, it made him feel vulnerable.

He looked around and realized he was lost. But he didn't mind, he just wanted to sort away the anger and depression that had started bursting from him. Most of the time he couldn't care less who was on the receiving end of his wrath, but it was different around Kairi. Why? He couldn't answer his own question.

He heard a reedy laugh around the corner. Curious, the glanced to find Donald with another duck around his age(whatever that was).

"Oh Daisy, you always know how to make me laugh." He said, leaning over to kiss Daisy on her cheek.

Sora turned away and resumed his route to finding the courtyard. Jealousy, wrath, and envy boiled in his stomach. He didn't completely know why, but one thing for sure was that everything that had happened to him was surfacing and adding weight to the air around him. He slashed out at nothing, trying to vent his anger. He knew he didn't need another breakdown-

"There you are, Sora!"

Sora glanced behind him to find Kairi running down the hall. He rolled his eyes and sighed "I'd like to be alone." Hoping she would stop.

Her pace only quickened "I want to help you!"

"I don't need your help! I need to be alone!" She was getting close now, so Sora started a light jog.

"That's the problem! You're not letting any love into your heart-"

Sora almost completely turned around in anger, but he snapped back "I don't need it! Now just leave me alone already!" And he sprinted down the hall, finding the courtyard shortly after he had lost Kairi.

He didn't stop in the open air, he headed for the clumps of flowery bushes that signaled a secluded spot. He didn't care what they were, he just wanted silence, solitude. Everything was bubbling up: lost home, lost lives; each of his losses sprung up from his footsteps like splashes. They arrived, seemed to vanish, but left ripples among his mind.

Finally winded, he leaned against a bench, finding himself surrounded by pale blue roses. The scent was overwhelming, but he wanted it like that, a good distraction. He took staggering breaths, trying to calm down, trying to stem the flow of his tears. A dark, demented rhyme rose from the suppressed and lost child in him:

_Bloody daddy,_  
_Screaming mommy,_  
_The islands are all gone._  
_No friends,_  
_No home_  
_Tummy's always hungry-_

He stopped himself from finishing. He collapsed onto the bench, finding that in his confusion he had gripped a rose stem and pulled it off. His hand was bleeding from the thorn wounds he didn't notice. The serene blue was starting to get marred by rusty, brownish red. He leaned over, putting his face in his free hand, trying hard to keep himself from breaking.

But he did, and he began sobbing quietly.

He became almost completely quiet when he heard Kairi calling for him, but he still couldn't keep himself from making just enough noise for Kairi to find him. Her cries stopped, but that was all he noticed.

Until he felt two arms gently wrap themselves around him.

His normal train of thought said to _resist_, to _shove her away_, to _get away from her_. Yet another rose, saying to allow his sadness out, let it run away so he could be free of its burden. He followed both half way: pushing Kairi off of him, and only stopping his tears.

"You don't need to shove me away." She said, sounding hurt.

"I don't need your help." Sora replied halfheartedly.

Kairi was silent for a few moments, then she noticed Sora's hand. It now had a small pool of blood. "Oh, you were hurt on the roses-"

"I'm fine." It came out bitter. Sora wasn't sure if it was just as bitter as he wanted it or not. All he was aware of was the pain the racked his heart and body and Kairi trying to worm in to help. "I've felt worse..."

"Well if you're in pain, it's not fine, is it?" Kairi inched closer.

"Just stop trying to help me. Please." Sora didn't know why it came out as a pleading sigh. There was something about Kairi that changed him, and he was unsure of wether it was good or bad.

Kairi inched back to where she was, and they sat together, staring at the scenery around them in harmonious silence. Occasionally she would point out something, and Sora would briefly note what it was before slumping back into his quiet depression. After awhile, when the sky was turning its dusky twilight shades, Kairi gently clasped the hand that Sora held his rose in. Moments later Sora felt his hand grow warm and soft feeling, but it waned as fast as it had come.

"There's a little lesson my dad taught me when I was little, about these roses." She began, moving closer again and turning herself to him. She held up his hand with the blood-stained rose, continuing "Imagine that our lives are a rose. It can be beautiful, it can be sickly, it all depends on how we, the gardeners, care for them." Sora took the words in, watching Kairi delicately take the rose from his hand and twirl it around. "You can't stop it from having thorns, but you can prune them. Sometimes you can't prevent it from getting sick, but you can heal it. If you put enough work into it, you get a beautiful, rich, and lovely rose." She stopped twirling it and moved her gaze into Sora's eyes. Only briefly though, she glanced away with a blush creeping on her cheeks.

"Well what if you can't prune it? What if you don't have the medicine to heal it?" Sora asked, sounding contrastingly hard.

"Then you have two options. One, let them stay. Or two," Kairi set the rose aside and held Sora's hands

"let someone help."

Sora sat there, confused by Kairi's insistence on trying to help ease his suffering. She then smiled a little, encouraging him to let it all out.

Sora decided to stare at one of her necklaces: the blue star made of glass and pewter. He had never really payed attention to it until now. Something about that star was uncannily familiar-

He winced, a headache starting to arise. It seemed to question why he was feeling care for A-Kairi. Why was he feeling love for _her_? He then roughly stood, and walked away without a word.

_I don't need her help, I don't need her to care for me. I'm alone and that's just how I like it._

* * *

SoKai is getting a rocky start, but it's there! Reviews are appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

Sora found Riku, and they both traversed the halls for their room. It took awhile, but after Kairi helped them they found it very easily.

"Okay, um, goodnight." She said a little uncertainly. Riku smiled "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah I guess- Sora aren't you going to say something?!" She sounded a little annoyed when she noticed Sora not even acknowledging she was there.

Sora collapsed on his bed, and instantaneously sighed "Wow, what a bed!"

Riku waved Kairi away and followed. He flopped down on the poofy bed, and finding the soft, downy, and warm material to be a great comfort. "See? I told you wasn't so bad here. Goofy said tomorrow after we meet King Mickey-"

"What kind of a name for a king is that?!"

"-and have some magic lessons with Donald. Day after that, we start patrolling worlds."

After snuggling down, he then decided to help Sora sort out some feelings "Say, did you actually listen to Kairi?"

"So what? It'd be rude if I didn't!"

"Since when have you cared about that? You like her. As in love her, am I right?"

Sora almost leaped off his bed to punch Riku's smug little face, but instead just roughly sat up "I-I DO NOT." His voice cracked a little. His face was starting to grow red.

"You do. I saw your face when you met her-"

"W-we just met today! It's ridiculous!"

"I think you do, Sora. It's okay to let her in-"

"She wouldn't like me back!" He snapped. He remembered how she kept holding his hands, and stared into his eyes once. "I-if she does it's just sisterly!" He became quieter, curling up

"Besides, I'm too tormented for someone like her."

Riku shifted onto his side "Who said?"

"She's too nice, too naive-"

"Too much like you. The _past_ you. Who said that was bad?"

"She'll end up like me. You and I both know she deserves someone better-"

"You saying that just cemented your position as 'someone better'."

Silence passed. The clock on the wall ticked by.

"Kairi's a Princess of Heart, maybe she could help-"

"Maybe I could end up corrupting her." Sora turned away from Riku, saying curtly "Goodnight." Riku heard him mutter some more, and he warned his friend

"If you decide to commit suicide by pillow, I swear you're gonna wish you hadn't."

* * *

Kairi sighed, leaning against her pillow, covered in her light pink and gold nightgown with her legs criss crossed in front of her. She closed her eyes, trying to sink into her feathers pillows and ignore everything else, just like her father had taught her. When she found she couldn't, she touched her necklace. The blue star, and a gift from her father.

The voices of other hearts quieted.

She then took deep breaths, making her mind and heart a void. Not a bad void, but a warm, welcoming one. She could 'see' other hearts scattered among the castle, and feel what their owners felt. It was blurry, but a good general idea of the state of the castle was peace and comfort.

She then reached out, and 'picked up' a heart. Daisy. She felt warm, content, happy. Donald was home, he was home safe and sound. She also felt Donald's, and he was just the same. She moved on, letting the two rest. She checked on Goofy, he was fine.

She picked up her mother's heart, finding that the sad, lonesome tone had brightened considerably. Her heart was bright and hopeful and full of faith and happiness. Kairi knew exactly what this meant, and her eyes snapped open in surprise.

Dad was coming home!

Smiling widely, she glanced at her nightstand. There was a picture, consisting of her on her knees with two anthropomorphic mice, both she held in a close hug.

Her parents, their majesties Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Well, not exactly...

She knew she was adopted, but there wasn't really any other term she knew to call them besides her parents. She fell into this world as a falling star, and the entire kingdom lovingly accepted her as their princess. The only sad thing about this was that she could barely remember anything of her home world.

A story she loved to hear over and over...

A castle, big, complex and ominous...

It hurt her head to remember anything more than that.

She then decided to stop exercising her empathy, and she took off her charm to examine it. It was a five pointed star crafted out of pewter and glass, deep blue at the base of the points fading to sky blue. There was a heart shaped filigree in the center. She turned it over, her finger lightly outlining a carved in script:

_Aqua_, and in a hastier correction, _Keyblade Master_. Along the edges was two words, repeating over and over: _Terra, Ventus, Terra, Ventus..._

Kairi knew they were latin words, meaning water, earth, and wind, but had an uncanny feeling that Terra and Ventus were names, not just a random, repeated phrase. She only knew about Aqua, the Keyblade Master. She had tried picking up traces of who used to own this charm, but could only pick up sadness and bittersweet memories.

Her father had said they were Keyblade wielders before her, even shown her the picture of them on his desk.  
_"They were all brave, valiant warriors for the Realm of Light. And my friends."_ She remembered him saying with an edge of sadness a long time ago_ "This charm and picture is all I have left of them."_

_"Daddy, could I have the pretty star?"_ She had asked, the despondency of the charms past flying completely over her head then. He obliged, handing it to her with a smile _"You know, you remind me that Aqua would love a girl like you to have the Keyblade." He gently rubbed his nose against hers "My sweet little Kairi who always wants to help others."_

Kairi then put it back on, realizing she had two more hearts to inspect. Two more people whose suffering was still in need of help.

She touched Riku's heart, finding a steady ease, but also steady sadness. He missed his home, his parents, his good days when he was a child, but he had moved on, finding ways to make his present just what its namesake was. Kairi now knew for sure he didn't feel as much hurt as Sora, and had coped with his losses far better than the younger boy had.

She moved uncertainly on to Sora. She knew his bitterness, she knew his pain, she was just unsure if she could handle it...

"Every heart, Kairi, EVERY heart." She reminded herself of her goal in life. To ease the pain of every heart.  
She then allowed her heart and Sora's to touch, and was almost washed away by the grief, depression, and sadness. Sadness and anger, that was almost all it was.

_Almost._

There was a light, but it was buried deep inside of him. An altruistic, empathetic, tender, loving, loyal, and heroic light. It was _HIS_, no doubt about it, but trauma had repressed it, pushed it deep inside of him and away from his personality in favor of realism and survival.

There were two other hearts, or was it one? She could tell he definitely had more darkness and light than the average heart. The scars that ran across it she now realized may have been points where the hearts intersected and bonded together.

She decided not to let it bother her(_it's just you being stressed from all this pain!_)and held Sora's heart close, and allowed it to have some of her light, some comfort, not even daring to let go as she fell asleep, still sitting with one hand clasped on her charm and leaning against her pillows.

Both her and Sora dreamt of a beautiful light, and a beautiful time when that's all the world was.

* * *

Yep, Kairi's the adopted daughter of Mickey and Minnie. Really, I expected that to be more obvious ಠ_ಠ

oh well, can't expect everyone to pick up on things. Review please! hope you're enjoying it!


	6. Chapter 6

"Sora, it's just a blizzard spell!" Kairi sighed, watching the boy strain with effort to cast the low tier spell. She shook her head and walked over

"Here, you just imagine your Keyblade growing cold-" the moment she touched his hand fire spurted out of the key. "Good grief Sora! _Blizzard_, not fire!"

Donald, who was working with Riku, glanced over. "Sora, you should feel how cold the spell should be. If you're letting your emotion get in the way it won't work. Detach yourself."

Sora sighed, and raised his Keyblade at the training dummy "You're going to freeze you dam-"

"Sora we don't use that kind of language anywhere!"

"-_Whatever_. You DARN dummy!"

Another burst of flames left a charred pile of ash. Kairi pouted "Seriously, you can't let anything go, can you-"

"I can let plenty of things go!" Another dummy was burnt to ashes. Riku walked over "Kairi, I think I'll help him." He then grabbed Sora's ear and pulled him aside "First off, you have no reason to be treating Kairi like that. Second, the trick is to detach your anger, not let it grow stronger. There is a difference." He then walked back to Donald, resuming his lesson. While Sora was struggling with blizzard, he was struggling with fire.

The problem was something Sora had only admitted to himself: he COULDN'T let go of his anger. He always felt it, the only times when it was dulled was when he was depressed to the point of not doing anything. Kairi didn't make anything any easier, she made him feel too warm to focus on the chill.

He watched her as she flawlessly pulled off higher tier and different kinds of spells. Spark, Stop, Reflect, Cure, Thunder, Blizzard, Fire, Aero, Gravity... The list went on and on. She then finished with a cry of "Light!" And the whole room was temporarily lost in white. Sora felt anger and pain wash away into the light and he felt... Happy, calm, his problems didn't bother him-

The feeling vanished with the light. His inner turmoil returned easily.

Donald and Riku both blinked, then Donald exclaimed happily "That was fantastic Kairi! I see Her Majesty taught you a few more tricks."

Kairi nodded, now rocking back and forth on her heels "Mom said she learned them straight from dad. Speaking of which, he's coming back today, right?"

"Yep, King Mickey's gonna be back any moment no-"

"YOUR DAD'S THE KING?!" Sora and Riku exclaimed.

Kairi jumped at the sudden noise, then held a hand to her chin with a blush beginning to form "Well I didn't want you to treat me any different than a normal girl-"

"I'msorry!" Sora said in a quick burst, bowing. Riku blinked in surprise "Did you just say-"  
Sora stood again, the burst of apology having left him just as fast as it had come. There was a grim countenance that drained any laughter from the air around him.

Kairi blinked slowly, then said plaintively "You don't need to say sorry for yesterday. I want you to treat me just like you would anyone else, okay?" she walked forward and held Sora's hands, making absolutely sure he returned her gaze "No 'Your Majesty', no 'Princess'. Just Kairi, do you understand?"

Sora nodded, but ripped his hands away from Kairi's. He didn't like it when she did that. It stirred up too much love in his opinion. If there was one thing he knew about love, is that it was one of the best leverages to use in combat, mental or physical. He had seen far too many people become consumed by Heartless because of it. Taking one for their family, giving themselves up so a fiancé could live... Love had always seemed dangerous to Sora.

Love got you _killed. _

As much as he wanted to die, he wanted it to at least be in his control.

But dear Kingdom Hearts she was a princess. Princess of Heart and Princess of Disney Castle. Even if he got past his own demons he didn't have a chance with her. Even if she liked him back, they were out of each others social classes. Another reason not to love Kairi sprouted in his head:

_She's off-limits and out of your league._

And yet the list of reasons to love her grew:

_She's a _princess_ and she _seems_ to like you._

Kairi then grew even brighter, and she rushed to the doorway "DAD!" She scooped up a small anthropomorphic mouse, who giggle back in a high-pitched voice "Kairi! I missed ya too!"

Sora's face screwed up in confusion "He's-"

"-The King?" Riku finished his sentence, equally confused. Kairi then set King Mickey down, saying "Nose tap!" They affectionately rubbed noses.

King Mickey then extended his hand "You two must be Sora and Riku. Welcome to Disney Castle, please call me Mickey!"

Sora and Riku stared at the mouse king uncomprehendingly. Riku was the first to snap out of his stupor and he knelt down to accept Mickey's hand.

"Thanks, I'm Riku and he's Sora." Mickey smiled "Okay then, you're Riku." He then let to of his hand and reached for Sora "And you're Sora, right?"

Sora stared at his hand, still stunned, then said stupidly "I- um, kinda expected you to be taller..."

Mickey laughed "Yeah, I get that a lot!" He then took Sora's hand in his, saying "It's gonna be a pleasure teaching you two how to properly use the Keyblade!"

* * *

Sora had never seen so many books. Books on the history of this world, books on other worlds, books on anything he could think of. But King Mickey directed their attention to his desk

"Sora, Riku, I think the first lesson I'll give you is a history of the Keyblade wielders. Specifically the three that came before you."

"But dad," Kairi protested "you've already told me the story-"

"I've only told you the bare surface. It's a lot sadder than what I've told you..." King Mickey picked up his only picture of his old friends, and showed it to Sora and Riku.

A young woman with blue hair and a dazzling smile, a young man with brown hair and a stoic, but caring look, and a boy with cresting gold hair and dazzling blue eyes-

"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING THERE?!" Sora screeched, slamming his hands on King Mickey's desk and pointing at Ventus. He looked furious. Riku noted that, yes, it was the same boy from all that time ago, except he had more happiness and joy in his expression.

King Mickey, meanwhile, had set the photo aside and folded his hands pensively in front of him. "Two things, Sora," he began in a steady and ice cold voice "one, we don't use that kind of language. Two, 'he' is Ventus-"

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR HIS NAME! I ASKED WHAT IS THAT MURDERER-"

"THAT IS ENOUGH." Mickey harshly cut Sora off. "I am _not_ letting you accuse my friend like that!" He then took a calming breath, and resumed "I understand from Donald and Goofy that you two have had it rough, but I do not tolerate you attacking Ventus like that. He was a sweet child..." He faltered briefly, eyes starting to become teary "he wouldn't hurt a fly. Calling him a murderer is-"

"The absolute truth!" Sora snapped. He was starting to cry now "THAT BASTARD KILLED MY DAD RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!"

Kairi jumped, not even beginning to comprehend how traumatizing that could be.

Riku gently wrapped an arm around Sora, saying "Calm down, that was the only time we saw him-"  
Sora quickly used Riku's arm as a leverage and flipped the older teen over his shoulder. He then resumed his rant "That bastard-"

"-_Ventus_-"

"_Who cares if he has a name?!_ Anyways, he came to our islands eleven years ago with some other jerk and TOOK AWAY EVERYTHING I LOVED! _EVERYTHING! GONE!_"

Mickey calmly watched as Sora took shuddering breaths, then collapsed onto his desk, burying his head in his arms.

Riku, still sore from Sora, sat up. He tried getting onto his feet, but gasped when his shoulder became inflamed in pain. "S-Sora, calm down." He said, trying help as best as he could.

Kairi finally got out of her stunned state and gently wrapped herself around Sora "Shh... Just let it out-" Sora suddenly stood, glared at her, and left the study. Everyone cringed when the oak doors slammed behind him.

"... I think that could've gone better..."

* * *

More mentally unstable Sora, LOL... review please!


	7. Chapter 7

Sora felt FURIOUS. This king, someone for once in his life felt like he could trust, was friends with the boy who had plunged his life into darkness. _Friends?! With that monster?!_ He thought, seething with rage.

He burst into his room, grabbing anything that was his and haphazardly packing them.

"I am not staying with anyone who feels any sympathy for him!" He hissed under his breath. He felt numb with anger, numb with hatred. Kairi had tried calming him down earlier, but he didn't want to calm down.

He wanted revenge.

He was going to get the location for him from that stupid little king and when he found him... Images of gruesome, slow, yet _extremely_ satisfying and ironic deaths filled Sora's mind. He had a feeling if he went through with it his ghosts of past and hurt would finally leave him alone-

"Where do you think you're going?" Sora knew it was Riku. He rounded up the last of his things and pushed past his friend "I'm leaving!"

"Just because he was friends with Ven-"

"He doesn't have a name!" Sora yelled, marching down the empty and vast halls.

"He does, Sora, you can't deny it for long-"

Sora whirled around "Someone who kills others just for the sheer hell of it does not have a name or a right to exist in my book! Names bring sympathy, and the last thing I'll have is sympathy for a devil like him!"

Riku blinked at his friend's harsh response. He looked sad moments later "Sora do you realize what you're saying..." He trailed off when he realized Sora wasn't listening to him anymore. The boy paused, then said coldly

"... If you're gonna take his side, I guess I won't see you around anymore." Sora resumed walking.

Riku blinked, feeling his legs starting to turn to jelly "W-what?!"

Sora stopped and turned around again, glaring at Riku "If you're taking his side then I'm leaving." Sora seemed to have trouble saying the words, but continued "Every time I've tried to do something you've stopped me, and now you're taking the side of the monster that took our parents and lives from us. I. Am. THROUGH with this shit. Goodbye, Riku."

Riku's knees finally gave out. He had never really been bothered by anything that had happened to them until now. The thought of Sora leaving him seemed incomprehensible. Riku realized his true fear was of being alone, with no family or friends.

He watched Sora walk down the hall, memories flashing through his particular moment stood out: Sora's first attempted suicide.

_..._

_Riku was only eleven years old, Sora was only ten. They had been living on the streets for a long time, but they had finally had a steady shelter for a year now. The apartment was eerily silent._

_"Sora? Sora answer me, this isn't funny!"_

_Riku then, to his horror, heard a quiet choking noise coming from their bedroom. He dropped everything and flew to their bedroom to find Sora hanging from the ceiling fan by his belt. From the way his body twitched and that he was still involuntarily gasping for breath, he was still alive. _

_Barely._

_After only staring for seconds that felt like hours, Riku quickly scrambled to reset their stepladder and undo the knot. He caught Sora, set him down, and loosened the belt around his neck._

_"Sora that is NOT funny!" The panicked boy yelled. He paused when the belt was thrown aside, Sora only shallowly breathing. He tried a weak attempt at CPR "Sora come on, wake up! You can't leave me!" Riku felt tears unwillingly overflow. _

_Sora coughed, taking large gasps of air. Riku, too overjoyed to let his friend have any room, held Sora close and tight._

_"...Riku...?... Why... did you-"_

_"Don't leave me. Please, just don't EVER do that again!" Riku cried, clutching his friend and trying to comprehend what had led him to this. "NEVER do that again!"_

_Sora gently patted Riku's back, halfheartedly saying "...okay..."_

_..._

Riku let his head hang low, letting a few tears find their way down his cheeks. "Sora, we're all we've got! Please just think about what you're doing!"

There wasn't any response except his footsteps.

* * *

Kairi was running, trying to keep Sora from doing something stupid. She now knew the cause of his suffering, she understood at least part of it. Maybe there was hope to see the light in his heart come to fruition.

But there was the matter of his darkness. Kairi wasn't sure if she was the only person to see the darkness that poured from his skin in waves like smoke when he was accusing her father's friend, but she knew what she had seen.

She knew he needed_** far**_ more help then she had anticipated.

Kairi found Sora and Riku's bedroom slightly ransacked, neither boy there.

"Where would he go-" she stopped herself, then resumed running, this time her location was the Gummiship Hangar.

On the way she found Riku. He sitting in the middle of the hallway, crying and blankly muttering

"He's leaving..."

Kairi decided to let Sora do what he wanted for now, and she helped Riku back to his room.

"He's not leaving, not on my watch." Riku collapsed onto a small chair, still in shock. Kairi wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and said firmly "I'm bringing him back, okay?"

Riku nodded, but his blank expression told that it hadn't registered.

* * *

Sora was just about to enter the Highwind when he heard Kairi say

"You really are leaving..."

He didn't turn, but said "I'm not siding with someone who supports my parent's murderer." He lingered in the door, unsure of whether or not to continue.

"My dad just said Ventus was an old friend of his-"

"Doesn't matter. Having a past friendship warps the true perception of someone.-"

Kairi muttered under her breath "You're the one with the warped perception."

"-He remorselessly killed my dad in front of me when I was only four years old and destroyed my home." he took another step towards the ship "I have no respect for anyone who thinks he is anything else-"

"Oh, so you don't respect me?" Kairi asked, still sounding quiet. Sora turned his head, not saying anything.

"I mean, I know you're not lying... but I don't think Ventus was always like that. My dad has always said he was a bright, happy boy."

Sora thought for the first time since storming off. "Maybe he was... but that doesn't excuse his actions." he then resumed getting into the Highwind "I'm going to find him and make sure justice is served-"

"I think what you really mean is revenge, Sora." he didn't stop, and Kairi played her trump card "We're going to be in other worlds starting tomorrow anyways. It's easier to find someone when you're in a group, and easier to keep them from running..." She really didn't want to spur on Sora's thirst for 'justice', but she didn't know any other way to grab his attention.

Sora stopped, then backed away from the Highwind.  
"Yeah, I suppose." he said grudgingly. He then walked past her

"Just keep in mind the only reason I'm tagging along is going to be to find Vanitas or whatever his name is."

Kairi tilted her head, a grin beginning to form "You really his name Vanitas?"

Sora shrugged "It was the first thing that popped in my head, so sue me."

"Still, that's a long way off from Ventus!" Kairi caught up to Sora. He rolled his eyes "Do you really think I care?" She grabbed his hand saying "I think deep down somewhere you do."

Remarkably, Kairi found that Sora didn't openly protest. She smiled, knowing she was definitely doing something right.

* * *

Sorry about not uploading yesterday, I was at a high school football game!(gah, marching band, why you no let me have an illusion of a social life? XD) blah blah, lazy chapter, blah angst blah, review.

Yes, that mention of Vanitas was intentional.


	8. Chapter 8

Sora never did apologize officially, but everyone knew he felt slightly guilty. He had let his wrath out on people he knew didn't deserve it. He sighed, knowing that everyone else in the castle was asleep and getting rest for tomorrow. He thought about what King Mickey had said earlier:

_"Sora, I understand that Ven may have left some _really_ deep emotional scars, but I would really appreciate it if you worked on moving on, or at least keeping your temper in check, okay? A violent mind and a Keyblade are a _very_ dangerous combination."_

Then there was Riku, a sobbing wreck who only held Sora in a bear hug when he saw him again.

_"I'm sorry! I just have your best interests at heart and I don't ever want to lose you. We're the only two left of the islands and I don't want to be alone!"_

He summoned his keyblade and looked at it in the moonlight that seeped through their window. It glinted so warmly in the cold glow...

He stopped himself, realizing he was unconsciously turning its point towards his heart. Once again he felt on the brink of killing himself. _If all hearts go to Kingdom Hearts... then what is it? Light? Darkness?... Something better than this life...?_

He held the tip pointed at his heart for several moments, trying to answer his questions. He let his Keyblade disappear moments later, tucked the cool blue sheets of his bed around him, and fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

"Dad, I think he's the one," Kairi said, sitting on her bed with her father sitting a short distance away.

Mickey titled his head "In what way do ya mean that?"

Kairi thought for a few moments, then said firmly "Both. He's the one I save in my dreams, and I... I do feel something there. He's really unattractive on the outside, but there's something... more buried in there. I just gotta find out how to bring it out."

Mickey nodded "Yeah, I think he might be the one from your recurring dreams, but I think you should wait on the romance for now."

Kairi nodded, glad her father agreed with her first hunch. Ever since she was ten, she had one dream, just one.

A boy about her age(weird thing being that the boy aged with her as the dream repeated through the years)fell from the sky, and landed in the ocean surrounding the island she was on. He started sinking, and she rushed out into the waves. The water pushed her back, threatened to drown her, but she would eventually make it to him just as he had sunk down to where there was only sprinklings of light from the sunset. She would dive down, grab the boy, and bring him back to shore. Afterwards, it would fade to white, but she always heard his voice saying

"Thank you, Kairi."

It had been happening over and over, but she barely remembered what he looked like and what his voice sounded like. Just brown hair, blue eyes, and a very sweet, tender, adorably dorky voice that was filled with genuine thanks and love.

But Sora was so... Despondent, depressed, angry. How could he _ever_ sound like that?

"Say, dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think... Do you think Ventus meant to do that...?"

Mickey sat in pensive silence for several moments. He then said "I don't want to call Sora a liar, but what he claims Ven did sound VERY uncharacteristic of him." He looked away from Kairi, eyes drooping with sadness "I know I haven't seen him in years, but I don't want to believe he did anything remotely like that."

Kairi held her father's shoulder "Hey, it's perfectly okay to hold onto that belief. Hold onto it and cherish it until proven wrong, but even then try and keep it in your heart."

Mickey smiled, gently rubbed noses with Kairi again. "Of course." The mouse then got off of Kairi's bed, turning off the lights and saying cheerily "Goodnight Kairi, we got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. I love you."

"Love you too, dad. 'Night." Kairi said, hunkering down into her bed. Minutes later she still wasn't asleep. She wanted to get out of bed and see Sora, see if he would talk to her, try and let things go.

She then lit a candle, sneaked down the hall, and creaked open the door to Sora and Riku's room.

Both of them were fast asleep, lightly snoring, occasionally muttering. She crept up to Sora, whose face was far more sorrowful than he normally allowed to show. There were tears just beginning to seep down his cheeks.

"No... fair..." he murmured lightly "they're all... dead..." Kairi bit back tears, finding such a piteous moan to stir feelings of sadness in her heart. He shifted over, trembling "why... why won't it... stop?..." Kairi took a deep breath. _Okay, maybe not tonight._ She then backed away, but was halted by one last whisper

"...I don't want to be alone..."

By golly she was staying now. Kairi didn't care what the castle or anyone else would think as she sat down on Sora's bed and gently wrapped her arms around him. He needed love, and if he wasn't going to accept it while awake, he was at least going to get it while asleep.

In her last bit of consciousness before falling asleep, she noted that he wrapped one arm around her.

* * *

daaaawwws aplenty. Gosh, Sora's gonna be surprised tomorrow, finding Kairi sleeping with him XD review please, it kinda stinks to read and not put a review. Peeps who are reviewing, you rock and get Dashie flavor Cupcakes-

... Did I say Dashie? I meant red velvet. Gosh darn you SargentSprinkles!


	9. Chapter 9

One thing Sora knew for sure was that his dreams faded from nightmares to happy memories. The significant thing is that they stayed that way, they didn't fade back into nightmares.

When he woke up the next morning, he smelled a sea breeze, lilacs, other flowers tropical and not. He noted his arm was around something warm and soft, and a breeze tickled his nose. His eyes opened slowly, and he found himself cuddling Kairi, who was still fast asleep.

He froze.

_Oh Kingdom Hearts Kairi's sleeping with me!_ He swallowed uncertainly, feeling his cheeks grow warm. He thankfully noted they both still had their clothes on, but his mind was in panic mode. An affair would instantly spring up among the castles residents. As if his life couldn't get any worse.

Yet his arm still lingered on her, holding her just as she held him.

His mind said get away.

His body and heart said get closer(to varying degrees).

And yet he sat there, listening to her soft, restful breaths, letting her hands occasionally shift when she did. She looked adorable, innocent, sweet, and that was something that turned Sora's hardened heart to jelly. There was a soft smile that he felt the need to kiss softly, but he quickly dismissed that thought. He tried gently peeling Kairi's arms off of him, but she only clung tighter. He really didn't want her to wake up, afraid she would accuse him instantly.

He sighed, muttering "Of course, because I can't get a freaking break..." He tried getting away from Kairi again, but she still held him close.

"Don't go..."

He stopped, sighed, and then decided to enjoy the moment. He nestled closer, and Kairi shifted to place her head against his chest. Sora felt a calm and ease that he hadn't felt in forever, and he enjoyed it slightly. Kairi murmured sleepily "Sora..."

Sora decided to try and wake her up, feeling too awkward to enjoy Kairi sleeping next to him "Hey Kairi, gotta get up now..." He was surprised at how nice he sounded, then composed himself and said in a harsher tone "Hey, get up!"

Kairi stirred, and blinked slowly. She felt Sora starting to shove her away, then said sleepily "Huh?"

"What on earth are you doing in my bed?" Kairi then remembered last night, then said simply "Making sure you felt loved."

Sora cringed, then sat up "Oh please don't tell me-"

"What? You're always so grumpy, you act as if no one cares about you-"

"Oh Kingdom Hearts I'm probably gonna be a dad-"

"Huh? Wait... You mean!" Kairi turned bright red "No! No of course not!" She squeaked, pulling up Sora's bed sheet out of instinct.

Sora sighed in relief, and flopped back onto his bed. He looked sad "But what is everyone else gonna think...?" He moaned, holding his hands to his face.

"Sora, be quiet, I'm trying to sleep here- WHAT THE- Mmmphf!" Just when Riku woke up Sora bounded across the room and pressed his hand to his friend's mouth. Riku blinked, looking at Kairi, then Sora, flitting between the two. He was definitely wondering what Kairi was doing here with Sora in her nightgown.

"Okay, I don't know what she was thinking, but I SWEAR we weren't doing anything!" Sora said hurriedly. Riku then nodded, and Sora removed his hand "I-I mean, I guess she had storable sleeping and she just crawled in-"

"Almost, but not quite." Kairi said getting out of Sora's bed "I was trying to get some light into your heart for once. You really have a lot of depression you haven't let go-"

"EXCUSE ME BUT I HAVE! Gah, how many times do I have to say it?!" Sora sighed. Riku shrugged, then told Kairi "How about you get to your room so your dad doesn't have a heart attack?"

Kairi nodded, and silently left. "um, s-sorry for misunderstandings..."

"It's alright." Riku said as he glanced at Sora. Sora looked a little disappointed to see Kairi leave. He smirked "Okay, deep down you liked that."

Sora stiffened, then glared "No I didn't!"

"You did."

Sora threw a pillow at Riku "Did not! I'm a lot of negative things but I'm not a pervert!"

Riku caught the pillow, smirking "So? You still liked it!"

Sora folded his arms and looked away "Okay, she's really cute, so what?"

Riku only got up and patted Sora's back as he walked out of their room "So you like her. I'm gonna get breakfast, you can mope if you want."

Sora watched Riku leave, then muttered "Okay, maybe I do like Kairi..." and soon followed suit.

* * *

After having breakfast King Mickey called them to his study again. Sora thankfully noted that he had stashed away the picture of him.

"We'll, since you guys are going to be traveling around, I figured I'd at least give you two some clothes that fit properly. Flora, Fauna, Merryweather!"

Three elderly fairies strode in, smiling warmly. They then frowned a little "Oh dear, where did you get those clothes?" They instantly hurried over to Sora and Riku, waving their wands and taking measurements "My word, these could've been from a dumpster-"

"HEY! We didn't have any money!" Sora snapped.

Kairi laughed, causing Sora to grow even redder. The fairy in red smiled, then asked her companion in blue "You know, I think he'd look very dashing in red. What do you think, Merryweather?" Merryweather, who was thinking about Riku's outfit, shrugged "Blue would look better on both of them."

The green clad fairy sighed "Oh please don't go off on that tangent again Flora... How about navy blue for both? They seem to like dark colors."

Riku nodded "Keep it loose though, fighting and tight clothes don't mix."

The fairies nodded, then after a few moments of bickering backed away and raised their wands. They twirled them simultaneously, showering Sora and Riku in a bright light.

When they were seen again, their outfits actually fit, and were radically different.

Riku was wearing jeans with large, deep pockets. They were slightly baggy still, but they looked tons better than his previous pair. He wore two vests, one black and zipped up with another on top consisting of mostly white, but had highlights of yellow and blue. His fingerless gloves had been replaced with a white wrap on his left wrist. He had also gotten a new pair of sneakers. Riku examined his new duds, then said approvingly "Pretty nice, fabric feels great!"

Sora was tugging at his new short sleeved jacket. It was still black with white at the edges, but had added shoulder pauldrons. His T-shirt had been replaced with a blue tank top with a red pouch. He then tugged at his pants, which ballooned out and stopped about halfway down his shins. Yellow belts crossed the black material a few times, holding up red pouches covered with a black X. His shoes were also changed, now being black with yellow clinging at his ankles. Yet the clownish quality of forming a bubble where his toes should've been remained.

Riku noticed to his surprise a genuine smile creeping on Sora's face. He felt his hopes sink when it vanished, and sora sighed while folding his arms behind his head "Eh, they're cool I guess." The newborn smile had been replaced with a frown as he looked off to the side from no particular reason with narrowed eyes.

The fairies then turned their attention to Kairi "Now dear, do you honestly expect to be traveling around in that?"

Kairi held out her skirt, mumbling "Well this looked like it'd be okay to wear..."

Sora suppressed a mocking laugh.

The fairies then twirled their wands again, saying warmly "Now dear, we not criticizing you, it just not a very good idea to be fighting in that kind of outfit."

Her skirt shrank to about an inch or two above her knees, becoming bright pink. Zippers appeared on her sides and front while the hood on her now disappeared jacket became black. She gained two belts, both black and holding similarly colored pouches. While the dress ended at about her breasts, there was a white tank top underneath. She gained a pair of lavender converse shoes.

"Wow! This is so pretty!" Kairi said, twirling around, examining the new outfit. She smirked as she summoned her Keyblade "Yeah! I can definitely fight in this!"

"The best part about these clothes is that they'll never get dirty! Well, there's also the powers they bestow but-"

"Powers?!" All three exclaimed.

Flora nodded "Yes, powers. Kairi, dear, you get enhanced magic, since that's your forte from what His Majesty has told us. Riku, we sense a darkness in your heart-" Riku stiffened, becoming even paler from the remark. He looked horrified.

"Oh dear, we didn't mean a bad darkness!" Merryweather sighed "We see in you a darkness that has great capacity to be good!"

Riku looked barely relieved, staring at his hands in blank horror.

"-your clothes, Riku, will allow you use of that darkness at your own discretion. Sora, we see in you an ability to link many hearts and make many friends. You clothes draw upon their power, giving you strength in a variety of areas." Flora waved her wand, a red orb popping into existence "Take the orb, and unlock your first power."

Sora reached out, the orb complying to his touch and vanishing into him. He then stiffened and squirmed before being surrounded in a flash of light. When it vanished, his clothes had become red with a black fluer-de-lis covering one pants leg. He held his Kingdom Key in one hand, the other holding a periwinkle Keyblade with a celestial theme.

"Oh wow! That was dad's old Keyblade!" Kairi exclaimed.

Sora blinked, wondering why he was duel-wielding Keyblades. It was a skill he hadn't heard of.

"There are many more facets of your heart that will gradually awaken more abilities, but Valor form will do for now." Fauna said "It relies on your courage and willingness to defend others."

Sora shook his head, denying what she had said "No, I'm nothing like that-"

"But remember that time when we were surrounded by Neoshadows? You did most of the fighting, keeping those creeps off of me the entire time." Riku interrupted him.

Sora dismissed his Keyblades, folded his arms, and looked away "That was years ago."

"It still happened," Flora said knowingly "it proves that there is the heart of a hero waiting to grow under there."

"You just need to learn." Fauna agreed encouragingly.

Mickey nodded in agreement "Anyone can be a hero if they work for it. Now, on to business. Flora, Fauna, Merryweather, you are dismissed." The three fairies left, waving goodbye.

"Now there's lotsa worlds that are brimming with Heartless and problems, but I've decided on you three visiting one called Enchanted Dominion first. Stay together, and keep Kairi safe at all costs. Donald and goofy have to be elsewhere, but if you see them make sure they know anything you've found."

"But what about you, dad?" Kairi asked.

Mickey smiled sadly "I'll be staying here one more day for Minnie, then I'll be off again. So I guess if you see me you can report as well. Any other questions?"

There were none.

"Okay then, the Highwind is ready to fly. Get going, stay safe."

They began leaving, but Mickey said softly "Sora, could you stay a moment?"

Sora stopped and turned back "Y-yes Your Majesty?"

Mickey looked like he was thinking for several moments, then said "I want you to keep Kairi safe. Please, I do consider her my own daughter, but there's also the matter of her pure heart. We lose her, we could lose the whole universe... So I am asking you as her father and King of this world to keep her safe under any circumstances. Can you do that for me?"

Sora thought for a moment, then bowed and said "Of course."

* * *

The groups has their new/old/timey-wimey-stuff-I-don't-understand clothes! Well, Kairi's is slightly altered to not be so _short_. Seriously, that skirt is WAY too short to be in a Disney game! review and blah!_  
_


	10. Chapter 10

The Gummiship ride was quiet. Sora was busy steering the ship, trying to follow King Mickey's directions to a 'T'. Riku was allowing darkness to reluctantly play across his hands, trying to cope with and grow familiar with the powers he didn't know he had. Kairi sat across from Riku, wanting to say something but keeping her mouth shut for fear of bringing up anything awkward.

Riku let the darkness stray around on his arms and hand, but whenever it started going away he called it back. He was always surprised to find how obidiently it returned. He then thought on how darkness was good: it was refreshingly cold, it blocked out light so one could sleep, it concealed when you prayed no one would find you. It could hurt, but like most things that hurt it could harm to protect.

He experimentally gathered it on one hand, finding that he couldn't see it through the inky swaths. Useful for concealing someone or himself in shadows. He wanted to test its combatic capabilities, but knew that was a bad idea on a ship in the middle of space. Darkness was also associated with illusion...

The moment he wondered about it, the darkness on his hand morphed and shifted. Soon, he was staring at Kairi's hand, grafted onto his arm. Kairi's eyes widened in surprise "Riku, what did you-?"

"I-I dunno. I was just thinking about darkness and stuff it's associated with..." He pressed his hands together, finding that even though his hand now LOOKED like Kairi's, it still felt like his, coarse and calloused. He dismissed the darkness, not wanting to experiment anymore. Although he had tried accepting the darkness, it didn't work. There was still fear that lingered at the back of his mind.

"Hey, that could be really useful!" Kairi said cheerily.

Sora turned around "Okay, what the heck did I miss?"

Riku, decided to show Sora, and tried replicating the experiment. Kairi's hair became Snow White and shoulder length, identically styled like Riku's. Sora's eyes widened "Holy crap how did you do that?!"

Kairi fingered a lock of silvery hair, frowning "I bet this makes me look old..." She moaned.

"Aw cm'on, who said old ladies were bad?" Sora joked.

Kairi glared at him, then asked politely "Riku, can you call it off?" Riku dismissed it again, wondering what was the trick to controlling this new power.

Sora then glanced back out to the vast expanse of space, and then made a jolting turn "Oh gee thanks for distracting me! We almost passed the place!"

* * *

Sora, Kairi, and Riku walked along the empty bridge that led to a grand castle. "Huh, figured there would be more people..." Riku noted. Sora put his hands behind his head, saying coldly "It doesn't matter, less people, less trouble."

Kairi looked downcast "And I was so hoping to see someone from another world..."

"Puh-lease Kairi, there's more than just two or three." Sora sighed "I mean it's not like-WHOA!"

Green flames innterrupted him, and caused the three to freeze in their tracks.

"Now who do I owe the honor here? Three more wielders of the blade have come to my precious little Dominion?" An elegant, but threatening nonetheless, voice said. Its owner was a woman who could have been at least mid thirties, with eerie green skin and robes of black and violet. A horned headdress curled above her head while her bony hands clutched a long staff with a sickly green orb.

"Your Dominion?" Sora asked harshly "funny, place doesn't look like it belongs to someone like you!" He summoned his Keyblade and pointed it at the mysterious stranger. She looked amused "Oh, so you think you can judge by appearances, Sora?"

He froze "H-how-?!"

"Your name is etched on the darkness of your heart, yes I see it so clearly, child." She continued, absently rubbing the orb on her staff "Such a wonderful childhood of yours-"

"Okay shut up! You're just being freakish now!" Sora yelled. He looked vaguely unnerved, but mostly annoyed.

The woman only continued to smile sickeningly sweet, and she looked at Kairi with great interest "My, my, dear, I can't find your name..." Sora protectively extended his arm in front of her "It's Kairi you old crone."

The woman's smile faded slightly. She then cleared her throat and said "My dear Sora," Sora shivered "no need to be so rude. I am no mere crone, I am the great and powerful sorceress Maleficent." Maleficent turned away, gazing at the castle before them "While you are correct that this kingdom is not mine to command I shall assure you that it will be yet-"

"I knew it." Riku readied his Keyblade "Another power hungry bitch."

Maleficent froze, and turned back. Her cordial act had dropped, emerald eyes flashing with fury. "You dare insult me? You, a meager child who barely knows the capabilities of such a powerful weapon?"

"Maybe we do." Riku and Sora arranged themselves in front of Kairi, who had remained uncharacteristically silent.

Maleficent then laughed, a shrieking mocking noise. Sora and Riku glanced at each other. _Yep, she's crazy..._

Maleficent then wiped a tear from her eye, still giddy "Two mere boys thinking they can defeat me? At your level of competence? Oh please!" she then sighed, collecting herself "Oh well, since you obviously have no interest in taking my side, I suppose I shall give you time to leave. If you value your lives, leave this world before the sun is blocked by my castle, and I shall spare you, leave you alone for now. However, stay and interfere with my plans and doom shall meet each one of you."

She turned around once more, walking away towards a new set of sickly green flames. She stopped, and gestured her staff at Sora "Oh, and a small parting gift as a warning."

She vanished into the flames with a cackle.

"A gift? What did she mean- Sora?" Kairi spoke again, but stopped herself when she saw Sora. His eyes were wide, staring at something beyond the castle. He shivered, and there was no doubt there was something affecting him. He started backing away, whispering "No... No...! N-nice Heartless! b-back away-"

"Sora, there aren't any-" Riku began before Sora began waving his hand, trying to do something, still backing away. He stared at it for several seconds, uttering "Huh?! W-why can't I-? AGH!" He suddenly lurched, letting out a truly agonized cry.

"Sora! What's wrong?!" Riku demanded, watching on horror as Sora continued to stagger and stumble from unseen foes.

"Riku what's-" Kairi asked before Riku brushed past her. "Sora calm down!" He grasped Sora's wrist, but the paranoid boy ended up punching his friend screaming "GET AWAY FROM ME!" Riku shook it off and grabbed both of Sora's hands, commanding "Sora calm down right now!"

Sora recognized the voice, and sobbed "Riku! What are you doing?! There's Heartless everywhere! Run-"

"There's nothing there, Sora. Calm down, collect yourself."

"They're everywhere! T-the darkness!" Sora started to squirm and squeal, still panicking. Riku lowered himself and Sora, continuing to repeat "Sora, there's nothing there."

"I-it's dragging me into it! SOMEONE HELP!"

"SORA! THERE IS NOTHING THERE." Riku shook Sora in an effort to resotore his senses. It apparently worked, Sora blinking slowly. He then let a few tears fall down his cheek, and he buried himself in Riku. He sobbed and moaned into Riku's chest, while Riku gently smoothed his hair "Sora... Shh."

"I-it was so- so real."

"No, no, there was no darkness... No Heartless..."

Kairi watched them silently. She hadn't expected Sora to react like this, knowing he often acted hard and cold. The sobbing wreck in Riku's arms she knew was most likely how Sora really felt. Lost, alone, afraid...

She looked at the castle, then the sun. If Maleficent was referring to this grand structure, they still had time to leave. They also had time to stop whatever she planned. She noted the portcullis was down, but that could only be a meager hindrance, considering the capabilities of the Keyblade.

"Riku, how long until Sora is ready to get going again?"

Riku, still soothing Sora, shrugged "It could be a few minutes, maybe an hour..." he trailed off when Kairi walked over and gently held Sora's shoulder "Hey..."

Sora sniffled a little, and gazed at Kairi. Her suspicions were confirmed, Sora's hardened glare had vanished. "Are you gonna be okay?" Sora hiccuped, and shook his head "N-no... What if it happens again-"

"It's not, okay? Me and Riku are here to keep you safe." Kairi smiled.

Riku was stunned as Kairi gently peeled Sora away from Riku and helped him up. "Everything is gonna be alright, we won't let anyone hurt you. Right Riku?"

After picking up his jaw, Riku nodded. "Gosh, he doesn't act like that even for me... And other people... He normally thinks they're monsters."

But Kairi wasn't paying attention, already en route to the gates leading into the castle, Holding hands with Sora, who wasn't quite back. He still acted childish and sad, but at least he was more open.

Riku followed, feeling bitter jealousy start to well up in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

Sorry for late updating! Had a contest yesterday and didn't get home until nine! Not to mention school .*


	11. Chapter 11

"Hello~!" Kairi called out to the empty ballroom. Her echo was the only response. "Seriously, you'd expect more people in a castle!" She sighed, taking a few dance-like steps.

Sora, who was back to 'normal', asked "Why the heck are you dancing Kairi?"

Kairi twirled lightly, saying plainly "It _is_a ballroom, right?"

"There's no music, there's no one here, there's really no point."

"Who said there had to be a point?" Kairi then began swaying as if she were in the arms of someone else. She was humming lightly, caught in her own little idle daydream. Sora watched her carefully, but then roughly shoved her aside.

"HEY! What's-" she stopped when she saw Sora fiercely fend off a Heartless. He killed the thing remorselessly and then extended his hand to Kairi

"I guess that's where all the people went. Watch yourself." As she accepted his hand he continued "You're twice as susceptible: Heartless love a heart that has tons of light, and yours just the stuff. Not to mention how Keyblade wielders are constantly followed by the buggers. I would advise against letting your guard drop like that again."

When Kairi was up again, Sora looked around for any more signs of the dreaded creatures. Kairi was still left speechless; Sora had just saved her. She was about to thank him before he walked elsewhere, saying "I'm gonna go see what else is wrong with this place. Riku, you can watch Kairi, right?"

Riku nodded "Be careful, okay?"

But Sora was already disappearing up the wide staircase to the upper levels of the castle. Kairi and Riku shortly debated on where to go, but they both agreed that going upstairs seemed like a good idea and followed.

* * *

Sora absently brushed the old tapestries covering the walls, wondering who had the time to create such works. Snippets of daily life, scenes from stories, anything in any color could be seen. He then shrugged, and continued on. Beauty was fragile and, in most cases, worthless. There was no point in reveling in the work of more than one set of deft fingers when there were larger problems around.

Sora didn't even notice himself lash out at a Shadow hiding among the dim light, only beginning to take note when their numbers increased. He rolled his eyes and readied himself for a long battle.

* * *

"Hey Riku, do you really think the people here became Heartless?" Kairi asked, Keyblade slung over one shoulder while her arm swayed in rhythm to her walk. Riku nodded, then quickly took out a Soldier "Heartless are formed from darkness in people's hearts, or when hearts are stolen by the Heartless. It wouldn't be a invalid hypothesis. Just bring in one Heartless and idiots who can't defend themselves and you have an outbreak waiting to happen."

Kairi shuddered "So these things used to be people?"

"_'Used to be'_is the key word there- Soldier on your right -I don't know if they're even aware of who they used to be, but when they're killed the heart they used to be is restored. Then they go off to wherever people go when they die." Riku explained while they made their way through bursts of Heartless. "So in a way killing them is a good thing."

Kairi launched a few fireballs at the Heartless, destroying them instantly, and the hall was quiet again. She had begun to realize fighting wasn't exactly fun, but there was something she knew her dad would say when he had to leave again: _"Kairi, remember that life isn't always going to give you what you want. You're not always going to be able to do what you want either, so when you have that free will to do as you please, enjoy every second of it."_Those words were finally starting to sink in.

She sighed softly. She loved her dad, but he was only around a sprinkling of years in her life. It was mostly her mother she spent time with, learning protocol for being a princess and eventually queen, learning spells on how to defend herself, learning learning learning. She smiled vaguely at memories of listening to her tell a wonderful bedtime story, about light and the worlds-

Kairi gasped and clutched her head. An older, more jumbled memory had snuck up on her. Riku stopped, asking "You okay?"

Kairi waved her hand dismissively "Fine, it's just a headache." She then cocked her head, and asked "Hey, am I the only one hearing those voices?"

A sound echoed from down the hall "...taken again..."

Riku and Kairi quickly walked forward, the voices growing louder and more legible.

"Ooh that Maleficent doesn't know when to quit, does she?"

"Now, now Merryweather, just because-"

"She's kidnapped Aurora and you're asking me to calm down?!"

"She wasn't asking you to calm down dear, just to keep a level head. You let your temper control your actions too much."

"Well I'll show Maleficent what she gets when she-"

"We don't even know where they are-"

"Hello?" Riku and Kairi walked into the room, it's only inhabitants being Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. Flora blinked in surprise, then exclaimed "What are you doing here? It's not safe!" She then walked over and began pushing Riku and Kairi away "There's too much Heartless and danger for you!"

"But Flora! Dad wanted us to come here-"

"It's gotten much too dangerous for you-"

Riku stopped firmly, saying "We were told to come here, we're here to help."

Fauna sighed, then nodded "Flora, they can take care of themselves. Give them a chance."

Merryweather scoffed "Give them a chance? We gave Philip a chance and he went missing too!"

"He might still be searching!"

"He's probably dead!"

"I am getting tired of your pessimism Merryweather!"

"Why do you have to be so bossy, Flora?"

Fauna stepped between the two sighing "Ladies, we have a bigger problem to explain here!" she then told Riku and Kairi

"To sum the events that have been happening, while we were gone Maleficent must have taken the opportunity to attack the castle. She took our dear princess Aurora, and Philip must have gone after her... We haven't seen any sign of him or Aurora..." the three looked despondent, but then Flora asked

"Wait, there were three of you with His Majesty. Where's Sora?"

* * *

Ba dee dum!

I'd like to state how the plot is gonna work with this, give you guys a blurry idea of what to expect next. Essentially I'm mixing plots elements of KH1 and 2 in this(might split it into two parts) then moving on to '3' for lack of a better term. The only things that are in continuity of this fic is the events of Birth By Sleep up to the point where Ven and Vanitas meet at the islands. As you have already read, that was changed drastically. Although the trio's fates are unaltered: Aqua is still waiting in the RoD, Terra is still stuck with geezernort, and Ventus... you probably already know ;)

With characters I'm mostly going to focus on Char. Dev. for Sora, and he'll kinda be like Neku Sakuraba: Pessimistic jerk going to a guy with a heart of gold. I am NOT having Roxas, Xion, or Namine in this fic. I write about Roxas too much already and Xion and Namine just make things confusing. Not to mention I'm gonna need an excuse to have Sora and Kairi lose their hearts and give Org. 13(yep, those guys are here) a chance to find them and make Xion.

... Yeah, big headache right there with this AU ^_^*.

Also, I'll try and keep the worlds canon only, so if it hasn't been featured yet I won't include it(might do a Tangled one again[points at KH3:The Return]. Tangled needs a world)

Anyways, that's just a broad swipe. Enjoy, read, review, blah.


	12. Chapter 12

Sora was fine, handling the heat of battle was nothing new for him. Really this level of Heartless was a meager annoyance.

At least until he tripped over something. At first he didn't realize he was falling, but by the time he did the mistake was already made. He could only flail his Keyblade in front of him as a Heartless leapt at him with bared claws.

For seconds that felt like hours, Sora tried shoving off the creature, but, not only did it persist, others joined on top of it. Sora felt panic creep at the edges of his mind. Heartless dogpiling on him, hissing in joy for a fresh heart-

"BACK OFF!"

He didn't know what had happened, just thankful that the fiends weren't on him anymore. Deciding this was a battle for later, Sora ran down the hall. He fired spells behind him to gain time in finding a spot to recover, but knew it was pointless. Heartless could spawn wherever the hell they wanted.

He saw a hallway and dashed down it without hesitation. He noted moments later that the Heartless gave up the chase, and it didn't comfort him in the slightest. In an effort to throw the dark creatures off his tail, he ran up stairs, down stairs, through every hallway he found. Eventually he collapsed in a rather plain room, nothing inside of it but a spinning wheel. He coughed a little, finding himself winded beyond doing anything but leaning himself against the wall.

"Hey...! A-anyone... here?" he called out weakly. Sora blinked slowly, then closed eyes with a sigh.

He was on his own for now.

* * *

"A-anyone... here?" echoed into the room holding the others.

"That's Sora!" Riku exclaimed, looking for the source of his friend's voice.

"He sounds hurt!" Kairi began searching as well, looking worried.

The three fairies looked unnerved. Fauna whispered softly "T-that came from..." they looked at each other.

Riku stopped his search and asked "You know where?"

"I thought that room was sealed off." Flora said, walking over to the fireplace. She tapped the wall, the brick falling out of place. "Oh biscuits, no wonder it was so easy for Maleficent to worm her way in. When we resealed this wall we also put an enchantment on it to keep her at bay."

"I told you last month we should've checked it." Merryweather muttered. Flora glared at her before using her wand to dispel the rest of the wall. "Sora should be in a room up these stairs. Now follow me, because we need to hurry-"

Rather than waiting up on Flora, Riku and Kairi instantly rushed up the stairs. Flora's cries for them to stop were lost in the drafty passages, and the wind whistling by their ears as they ran.

"Sora we're coming!"

"Hold on!"

It took awhile, but they found Sora collapsed against a wall, a little dishevelled and tired, but otherwise okay. He took one look at them, got up unsteadily, and said "Geez, took you long enough." After standing he wobbled briefly, but shrugged "Eh, at least you're both okay."

Riku rolled his eyes "Gee, you were the one who wanted to split up." he then noted a few slashes running up and down his body. Ones he knew Sora didn't notice. "Cure." he stated, letting Sora's wounds repair themselves. "You just have a penchant for getting hurt or in trouble, don't you?"

Sora blinked and gently fingered his slightly ripped shirt. He seemed at a loss of what to say. His look flickered into sorrow for the briefest moment before he said harshly "I'm fine."

Kairi then began examining the spinning wheel "Huh, haven't seen one of these before." She spun the wheel with one hand, watching the odd little contraption dance because of it. "Wonder what it is..." her hand then raised itself near a rather pointy-looking bit. Her gaze was now fuzzy, distant.

"Kairi? Kairi what are you doing?" Sora demanded. Kairi then gasped lightly when she accidentally pricked herself.

"Kairi?" Riku found her behavior becoming steadily sluggish, dreamy.

Kairi blinked slowly, watching a small bead of blood gather on her finger. Her eyes drooped, and she said softly "Sora..." before she began to buckle.

"KAIRI!" Sora dove for her limp body, catching it within a heartbeat. He looked horrified as he quickly checked her pulse, her breathing. He sighed in relief when he found she was still alive. "Good, just sleeping."

"I see that she isn't the only one to fall for my traps." A cold voice chuckled. Sora quickly set Kairi down and brought his Keyblade forth with a yell "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER?!"

Maleficent strode out of the shadows, grinning "Oh, nothing. She did that to herself."

This did nothing to calm Sora down, and he charged at her with a furious cry. Maleficent merely stepped aside amused by Sora's antics. "But dear, that's the truth. How was she supposed to know that spinning wheel would put her in the deepest of slumbers?"

Maleficent started edging towards Kairi, but Sora and Riku immediately rushed over. "You're not touching her you bitch!" Sora hissed.

Maleficent only coyly responded "I do believe you're correct. I won't be able to even lay a finger on her like this." she then grandly gestured while laughing psychotically "How about a claw instead?!"

Green flames leapt about her, and Sora and Riku looked at each other with an expression defined as 'Oh Crap' while Maleficent's silhouette and cackling grew in size and depth. The castle started to fall apart, whatever creature the crone was becoming being too large for even the grand place.

"She's gonna destroy the place!" Riku yelled above the din of cracking stone. But Sora wasn't paying attention, dodging boulders while trying to make his way to Kairi. "Sora! Sor-AAAAAA!" Riku stopped when the floor beneath him broke away. In his panic, he only heard one, bone-chilling thing:

"KAIRIIIIIIIIIIII!" Sora's scream.

Then he smacked into something(he presumed it was rubble from the collapsing castle) and as his vision started to fade he heard a cackling, otherworldly roar.

"Sora... Kairi..." he whispered, before his consciousness finally faded away.

* * *

Ba DAAAAAAA! Oh noes! What will happen?! Will I update tomorrow?! Review please!


	13. Chapter 13

"Riku! Riku get up!"

"Come on! This isn't funny!"

Riku couldn't open his eyes, they were too heavy. Heck, his body was too heavy to do anything but breathe.

"Gwarsh, Donald... I think he's kicked the bucket..."

"No..." Riku groaned, struggling to sit up. Donald and Goofy helped him up instantly while he continued "Not yet... I think."

He was caught in a pile of rubble, a once beautiful castle now in ruins. He was aware of something sticky running down his back, but ignored it in favor of something- or rather, some_one_- more important.

"Sora? Sora answer me!" Riku's groggy mind suddenly became as sharp as pins. "SORA!" He tried getting up but Donald and Goofy held him back

"Wait! You're not fully healed yet!"

"Hold yer horses! I'm sure he's fine-"

But Riku shoved them both off, scrambling among the bits and pieces of architecture, screaming for his friend. He stumbled, scraping and bruising himself. He was suddenly aware that his entire back ached, that he was tired, he was lost, alone. Still he picked himself up and screamed "SORA!"

No response except for the wind.

He whirled around, looking for any sign, ANYTHING saying Sora was alive. Instead he found his own light trail of blood. He lightly pressed his hand to his back, finding a gash from the collapse that ran shoulder to hip. It was a miracle his spine was still intact. He pulled his hand back, finding it stained red with blood. He shook his head, and yelled again "SORA!"

Donald and Goofy removed their hats, respectfully silent. Goofy then said quietly "I guess he got his wish..."

Riku's fists balled up from the unfairness of it all, and he then declared "No. He didn't and I'm going to prove it!" Riku then began tearing up the wreckage around him, calling for Sora even as his voice became hoarse.

Then his prayers were finally answered: a pale hand in a black fingerless glove. His heart sank when it wasn't moving, but Riku plowed through the debris anyways, saying "Hang in there Sora! I'm coming!" It took an agonizing few minutes to excavate just the torso of the boy.

Sora looked just about as worse for wear as Riku. There was a gouge above his eye that trickled blood down his face, his skin was sickly pale, and Riku was pretty sure his arm was not supposed to be twisted that way...

Riku brushed Sora's cheek in an attempt to wake him, afraid anything more would further hurt him "Sora, Sora please wake up."

Sora stirred "Ri...?" He coughed up some blood.

"Yes, it's me Sora. Everything's gonna be just fine, okay?" Riku then wrapped his arms around Sora's middle and began tugging the rest of him out "Now lets get you out of here-"

Sora suddenly screeched curses, and Riku stopped.

Sora was biting his lip, then whimpered "Dammit my stupid fucking leg!" Riku realized that there may have been injuries he didn't see underneath the rubble, and then began clearing away more boulders "Donald! Goofy! Help me out here!" They instantly complied, and they all cringed at what had happened.

Sora's leg had been speared by a piece of debris.

"Dammit that ruins my week." Sora muttered.

Riku's laugh was hollow "I think it's gonna be more than your week." He then tried getting Sora's leg off, but this only caused another string of cursing. "Kingdom Hearts! Be easier with the leg!" Sora moaned, trying to keep his pained tears from overflowing.

"I'm being as gentle as I can. Thinking about other things can take away the pain so... um... Where's Kairi?"

Sora stiffened, his eyes growing wide. He looked around, panicked and yelling "KAIRI!" He then made an attempt to get up, but sank right back down, howling in agony.

"Sora, I know it hurts but calm down." Riku said softly. Sora's scream withered away, and he was left clutching his broken arm and tears streaking down his face.

"Curaga!" Donald said, raising his staff and healing the two. Sora winced as magic set his arm back to how it was supposed to be, shut up the gash on his forehead, and quickly removed his leg from the piece of debris and fixed it up. A burning feeling in both his and Riku's stomachs told them that they must've had some internal injuries.

Sora then scrambled to his feet and looked for Kairi. He sank to his knees, whispering "I couldn't protect her."

"Sora, do you even know what happened? She might be-"

"Maleficent." Sora hissed, starting to tremble with rage, but it quickly subsided "Maleficent turned into a dragon and carried her off! She's long gone..."

Riku knelt down next to him "Come on, she could still be in this world-"

"No she isn't! I... I remember before blacking out she said 'Now, my princess, time to leave this world!'..."

They both paused, something much worse dawning on them.

"Do you think she's aware Kairi's a Princess of Heart?" Riku asked. Sora looked dead.

"Well we're pretty sure Kairi's gonna be fine-" Goofy began before Sora stood, and started stumbling away through the wreckage, not bothering to even be careful. Riku was about to follow when Donald asked "Have you learned anything from here?"

Riku stopped, and thought for a moment. "Well, the princess of this... Ah..." Riku kicked a hunk of stone "_'castle'_-her name was Aurora, I think-has been taken. Some guy named Philip is missing as well... Why the long faces?" He stopped when he saw Donald and Goofy wearing worried looks.

"Aurora's a Princess of Heart, too." Goofy explained.

"If Maleficent has her and Kairi, it's not much better than we thought it was." Donald continued.

Riku watched Sora again, seeing how he was now on the bridge, and sighed. "Hey, it was nice seeing you guys again, but I've gotta keep an eye on him. Bye." Riku then carefully caught up with Sora.

Riku wrapped an arm around Sora's shoulders "Hey, it wasn't your fault." Sora looked at him, his expression still morose and self-blaming.

He looked away, closed his eyes, and shoved Riku off of him "Yes it was."

"No, it wasn't-"

"Just drop it, okay? I'm not in the mood for arguing over something that was my fault." Sora sighed "Let's just get back to the stupid Highwind..."

Sora resumed walking, looking tired, beaten. Riku followed, but took one last glance at a symbol of happy times crashing around them.

* * *

Just when things were getting less angsty XD Review please!


	14. Chapter 14

In a world far away from Sora and Riku, a dragon, black as night, alighted in front of a massive, ruined castle. It let out a throaty growl that could have passed as a laugh as it set down its precious cargo: a young girl with ruby hair. It then morphed and shifted within green flames, becoming the slender figure of Maleficent.

She waved her staff, Kairi's limp body rising without any resistance. Maleficent strode towards the castle, saying happily

"All the pieces are falling in my favor."

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Was the first thing Sora said upon leaving the Highwind. Their appearances had morphed automatically, and drastically.

Riku was now wrapped in bandages, some bloody, some exposing rotted skin. Only one turquoise eye stuck out of the darkness underneath the linen, the other had a marring rose of bloodied bandages covering it.

Sora, meanwhile, grew long fangs, and his skin became ashen. Two rivulets of dried blood ran down the sides of his mouth, as if he'd recently been drinking the stuff. A Heartless mask covered most of his right head, lifted up slightly from the darkened spikes of hair underneath. His eyes looked sunken, with generous amounts of black makeup and emphasized shadows from his hair making his blue eyes seem to glimmer out of the darkness. His clothes had become black and gothic, the poofiness accenting his thin limbs. A quick glance revealed a pair of bat wings on his back.

"... Um... Donald did it?" Riku said while messing around with his bandages, knowing it was a pitiful excuse. Sora quickly recrossed the threshold into the Highwind, finding himself quickly morph back. After confusedly looking at himself, he glanced above the doorway, finding a small note:

_Need to blend in? Don't worry, the door will alter your shape to suit the general population. Stay safe guys! Don't forget, no meddling with world order!_  
_-Donald and Goofy_

Sora blinked, then walked back out into the dreary forest of dead-looking trees, turning back into his vampirish form "Okay, it does seem like Donald did it. I guess it only does it if the change is drastic." He looked at himself in a puddle, cringing "I look horrifying!"

Riku shrugged "Hey, we might be mild compared to everyone else."

Sora began rubbing at the dried blood on his face, trying to get the stains off. After failing, he sighed, looking annoyed.

"Aw come on Sora, it's not that bad. Say, I think there's a town down the pathway, I can see a graveyard through the trees at least. How about we check it out?" Riku said, starting to walk. Seeing how Sora hadn't budged, Riku said encouragingly "Say, maybe that witch with a capital B came here." That got Sora pumping for sure, and he ran towards the graveyard without another word.

* * *

Sora halted at the gate, squinting to read the sign in the dim light of the full moon. "Riku, you know what it says?"

Riku sighed, and rolled his good eye "Yeah, ask the guy with one eye to read the sign."

"Hey! It's dark and you're the one who's had better eyesight than me. Especially in the dark." Sora said while Riku shuddered at the remark. Maybe that was because of the darkness that slept within him. "I think it says 'Ha'..." He squinted some more "...'Haven Town'?"

"Goodness, you couldn't have been more _wrong!_" A flamboyant voice said. Both Sora and Riku screamed briefly and scooted closer together as a skeleton, a _semi-living_ skeleton, leapt out at them. "This is _Halloween_Town! Say, you enjoy the greeting? I've been working on it!" The skeletons grin was just about as toothy as you'd expect it, but it wasn't menacing.

Sora and Riku, who had just about had a heart attack weakly chuckled "Um... Yeah... T-terrifyingly great..."

The skeleton danced in joy a little "Fantastic! Oh, forgive my manners, I am Jack," the crouched lower, hiding his face, then burst out towards them again with a fearsome grimace "The Pumpkin King!" He straightened himself again(Sora noting he was MUCH taller than the both of them), asking cheerfully "And you two are?"

"Sacred out of our wits..." Sora grumbled while Riku said "I'm Riku and he's Sora. Nice to meet you your highness-"

"Oh please, just Jack. Nobody here deals with all that royalty stuffiness. Really, Pumpkin King is just a ceremonial title." Jack then thought a moment "It's kinda almost, but not quite, mayor." He made some more grand gestures, making it easy for Riku to think that Jack must have been in a theater group or something while alive "I'm just in charge of making a spectacular Halloween each year!"

Jack's exuberance faded, and he turned around, folded his hands behind his back, and sighed "Now if only I could find some spark of creativity for next year. Goodness, everything seems so overdone... This year was so boring I'm really gonna have to think about this one..." Jack then proceeded to ramble about Halloween and other frightful things.

"What, is Halloween something really big here?" Sora asked. Jack turned back around, looking surprised "Of course! It's practically what we live and breathe for! Gosh you must be from really far off to ask something like that you sheltered little vampire!" Jack rubbed Sora's head like he was an adorable little puppy rather than a bloodthirsty creature. Sora quickly slapped away his hand, looking like he wasn't n necessarily enjoying Jack's company.

"Hey! No need to act so grumpy!" He turned to Riku "Is he always like that?"

Riku shrugged "Most of the time. He doesn't like strangers much."

"Well that's fine, we have a couple of introverts here anyways. Here, let me show you around town- oh hello Zero!" A ghost that looked like a bedsheet drifted over. Well, mostly like a bedsheet, there was a dog's head with a bright, glowing nose as well. It nuzzled Jack, barking with glee while the skeleton laughed "Fine, fine, we can play catch!" Jack reached inside of his jacket and pulled out one of his ribs, causing Sora to cringe. Jack tossed it, Zero following the bone with glee.

"Now, let me show you around town."

* * *

Next World on our queue: HALLOWEEN TOWN! Hey, so appropriate right? XD Since I'm gonna be at a friends house, I won't be updating tomorrow(Have writers block anyways) so go out and grab some free candy, or party or whatever the fruitcake you do on Halloween nowadays.


	15. Chapter 15

Halloween Town was just about what it said. Pranks and ghouls 365 days a year, one of those days being a grand celebration of one of the most popular holidays. Sora hardly payed attention, finding little to no interest in it all. He looked for Heartless, Maleficent, Kairi, anything that grabbed his attention.

Riku also looked around, and stopped when he noted a large, ramshackle building outside of town. "Hey Jack, what's that place?" Jack paused and looked at it. His grin became more of a disappointed frown as he said "Oh that's Oogie's place."

"Oogie? That's a stupid name." Sora said, "What's so bad about him?"

Jack shook his head and sighed "See, we like scaring and pranks, just as long as no one gets hurt. Oogie Boogie is ah... Different."

"Oh, so he's the type that enjoys hurting people?" Sora asked in complete flatness.

Jack nodded uncomfortably "We've had a few run ins where he got carried away and got things a little too scary, even for us, and we decided to banish him to the outskirts of town." Jack then turned right back around and resumed his tour "Well, lets not dawdle on those unpleasant things! Besides, I still have to introduce Dr. Finkelstien and Sally!"

While Jack strolled towards what he claimed was Dr. Finkelstein's lab, Sora and Riku continued to look at Oogie's mansion.

"Got carried away, huh?" Riku asked.

Sora was silent, what little things he knew about this 'Oogie Boogie' we're being filled in with someone else he knew got 'carried away'. He then turned around and followed Jack, Riku joining him without a word.

* * *

"You brats! don't even think of returning here!" A scratchy voice yelled as Sora, Jack, and Riku entered Dr. Finkelstein's lab. Three children, all dressed up as a devil, a witch, and a skeleton, rushed past them giggling.

"I swear Jack, those three are more of a hindrance than a help." Dr. Finkelstein, a man in a wheelchair with ashy gray skin and a mouth that could rival a crocodile. He peered at Sora and Riku through his glasses "I'm hoping these two will be of more service-"

"We're not-Mmmphf!" Sora began before Riku instincively clamped a hand over his friend's mouth. Jack then laughed and said "Oh no, I'm just showing these guys around town."

Dr. Finkelstein then did possibly the most disgusting thing Sora had seen yet: he opened up his head, exposing his brain, and picked at it while he sighed "Another experiment gone awry thanks to those imbeciles."

Sora glanced at the operating table. A massive... thing was sitting on it. It was limp, and missing several limbs.

Dr. Finkelstein then shut his head and rolled over to it, lamenting "I still can't find the time to get the right parts, especially with Lock, Shock, and Barrel screwing up everything I tell them to do!"

Jack smiled encouragingly "I'm sure you'll get your experiment working up in no time doctor! Say, is Sally here? I want to introduce her to our new friends here." He then let out a small gasp, and said hurriedly "I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce you properly! Sora, Riku, this is Dr. Finkelstein. Dr. Finkelstein, this is Sora and Riku."

They both gave a halfhearted wave.

Dr. Finkelstein humphed a bit, then screeched "SALLY! Get down here!" He opened his head and picked at his brain some more, then added "Bring some tea!"

The old doctor then scooted closer to Sora and Riku, examining them. "You both look like reasonable young men. Maybe you could be useful..." He then rolled off, mumbling all the while about various things.

Jack waved a bony hand at Riku and Sora "So, enjoying the town?"

Sora said bluntly "This place is not my cup of tea." Jack frowned, then said "Well I'm sure you'll adapt eventually."

"Um, the thing is, Jack," Riku began "we're not planning on staying. We're just passing through."

Jack's eye sockets widened and he exclaimed "Oh! Why didn't you say so? I wouldn't have bothered you with all this if I knew!" He then dusted off his jacket, and began leaving "Well, I guess I'll see you two later! I've got to go out and think about next year anyways." The peppiness in his voice faded to a slight lilt at the end, but it was barely noticeable.

Sora and Riku were about to leave as well when Dr. Finkelstein called them over "Sora, Riku, could I have your assistance?" Sora hesitantly trotted over, asking "Okay, fine. What do you need?"

The old man gestured to his crippled invention "As I said, this needs a few more parts. Suppose you could find some? Just rob a few graves-"

"Excuse me, but WHAT?" Riku asked, appalled.

"Oh please, the bodies are dead anyways. The ghosts won't mind, no one will really unless you accidentally find a vampire instead. Anyone with half a brain as brilliant as mine should be able to find something!" He then looked over at the door, saying "Oh, Sally, there you are you useless girl."

In the doorway was the first normal looking person they had both seen. Well, until they noticed the stitching and patchwork mess of limbs and skin("So much for someone sane.").Other than that, Sally looked like a quiet, thoughtful, well spoken young woman with auburn hair. She had a gentle smile(that seemed to be permanently stitched onto her face) as she walked over with a tray of teacups.

Sora grudgingly accepted one, and so did Riku with a polite "Thanks."

After a few awkward sips of silence, Sora set down his cup and walked away saying "Down by the graveyard? Nab a few limbs? Okay, I can do that."

Dr. Finkelstein was too busy looking over diagrams to care, mumbling "Yes, yes, go do that." Moments after Sora had already left.

Riku set down his cup as well, saying "Thanks for the tea, Sally." and leaving. He smiled when he heard a quiet "Your welcome."

* * *

Hope you like this chapter, because it was an absolute BITCH to write. I'm sorry about the late update anyways, things just got slippy slidey with my schedule.

for those who did not get the memo in my AN for "It's a Long Story", here it is:

I'm writing future scenes to try and cope with my massive writers block(you know, get creative juices flowing and blah), which I would post as placeholder chappies, but they are MAJOR spoilers. One of them is in **_Part 2_**(Yes, it shall be two parts, then a KH3 for this continuity) for Pete's sake! ALthough if you want me to post the Spoilery chapters I will. But **_ONLY IF YOU REALLY FREAKING WANT THEM, OKAY?!_**

I'm not kidding, the spoilery chapters have major freaking plot points, and I really don't want to ruin it for you guys. I'll only post 'em up if I get five votes(FROM FIVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE)on my reivews, considering how a majority of the reviews I get are from recurring readers.

so long for now, holy cow I cannot believe you read all of that O_O


	16. Chapter 16

Sora kicked open the creaky fence without a thought, sighing "Why is it that we have to do everything?"

Riku caught the rusted hunk of metal while sighing back "That's like asking why you always agree to help people."

Sora wasn't paying attention, already looking around.

"Hey-"

"Still no sign of her!" Sora suddenly hissed, kicking a gravestone over.

"Sora, well find Kairi-"

"HOW?!" Sora rapidly turned back to Riku "DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY WORLDS ARE OUT THERE?!" Sora then held a hand to his face, sighing "For all we know she's already dead."

Riku closed his eye in thought. "We won't know for sure unless we get out there, and find out for ourselves, okay?" He then walked past him "How about we resume our search after we finish this up? I mean, you heard Dr. Finkelstein, he's old and those kids didn't seem to be able to do much besides pranks."

Sora rolled his eyes and huffed "Fine. We'll split up, even out the work." He ran off to another part of the graveyard, yelling "Meet you back at Finkelstein's in a hour!"

Riku watched him leave, then took a look at the multitude of graves in front of him. "Well... Time to get to work."

* * *

Sora had spent about a half hour digging around, looking for anything that wouldn't be too much of a hassle to get. He stood and stretched, groaning "Seriously, it always has to be us."

He had yet to come across any of his 'kin', thankfully, but he also had yet to find a corpse that wasn't already mostly decayed. He sighed, looking for another mostly fresh gravestone to signal a fresh-ish grave to see if he could find a limb or two.

Hearing footsteps, he jumped, turned around, and summoned his Keyblade in one smooth motion. He then sighed when it was only the kids from before, with a large sack presumably for trick-or-treating or helping him out.

"What're you guys doing here? Did the doc send ya?" Sora asked. He tried hard not to let the masks bother him, since each expression looked stuck in sadistic glee.

"Nah, I think we just got a little lost. Say, are you Sora?" The devil-dressed child asked.

Sora nodded "And you are...?"

"Lock!" The devil,

"Shock!" The witch,

"Barrel!" The rather chubby skeleton.

Sora nodded again "Okay then. So, how do you guys know me?"

"Umm... Dr. Finkelstein sent us...?" It sounded like a very unconvincing lie coming from Barrel, and Lock quickly said "We're just picking out Jack-O-Lanterns for next year!"

Sora shrugged, then went back to his work. He heard a few more shuffles, and turned around to find that the trio was closer to him than they were before. He backed away, but found he was in the corner of the segment of the graveyard he was in.

"Umm, you can go away now..." He said.

They looked at each other, then scooted closer "Aw lets just cut to the chase-"

"We're not here for dumb pumpkins!"

"We're here for YOU!"

Sora barely had time to cry out before two of them leapt up and gagged him, the third wrapping a rope around his right arm in such a way that it got twisted painfully behind his back. Annoyed, Sora summoned his Keyblade in his other hand and swung blindly. He struggled and gave it all he had.

"Lock! Knock him out or something!" Shock cried, clutching to Sora's writhing body in a weak attempt to get the ferocious boy to stop.

"On it!" Lock, who was on Sora's shoulder, leapt off and grabbed a stick.

"MMMPHF!" Sora yelled through his gag just before Lock hit him at just the right angle and with just the right force to make him woozy enough to stop struggling. Sora was about to start again when all three of them began beating down on him, trying to get him sedated.

As he lost consciousness, Sora chastised himself silently. _KIDS?! Freaking KIDS?! Damnit Sora, you've lost your touch..._

* * *

Riku had just about as much luck as Sora, not finding anything of use. He suddenly noticed someone else had entered the graveyard

"Oh Zero, how in my afterlife am I going to find something for next year? This has gotten so... Boring...! There's no life in Halloween anymore- oh, Riku! I didn't expect to find you here!"

Riku turned to find the Pumpkin King himself approaching. He looked a little more downcast than before, but he composed himself and asked "You doing a favor for the doctor?" Before he could respond he quickly sighed "Oh of course you are. And Sora- oh I just won't bother with it..."

Jack rubbed his temples, walking past Riku "I'm just gonna take a walk in the forest."

Riku watched him leave, then looked around once more and shrugged.

"Hey Jack! Wait up!"

* * *

The walk in the forest was mostly uneventful, with Jack mumbling(and occasionally cursing)under his breath about how... Surprisingly _sucky_ Halloween could be. Jack and Riku eventually stopped in a clearing, both of them staring quite confusedly at some of the trees.

Each one had a door, each door themed after a holiday.

"Ummm..." Riku said softly while Jack curiously examined the doors.

"How... interesting!" Jack exclaimed.

Riku followed after, and tapped one of the doors that looked like a festive tree. He backed away when it creaked open, revealing a hollow space. He peered through, finding a swirling vortex of snowflakes.

"What the-?"

Jack, in his enthusiasm at finding something NEW for once, accidentally ended up shoving Riku inside, and after trying to catch him ended up falling after him.

"HHHHHHEEEEYYYYYY!"

* * *

Riku and Jack tumbled out from a tree and into a snowy wonderland. Riku winced and sat up while Jack instantly sprung to his feet. He held out a bony hand to catch a snowflake, mesmerized by the delicate beauty.

His skull broke into a toothy grin. "_I LOVE IT!_" Riku watched as Jack began frolicking around in the snow, rejoicing in how he had found inspiration.

Yet there was a sinking feeling in his stomach that things wouldn't be as amazing as Jack made them out to be.

* * *

Gah, I am not really enjoying Halloween Town. (headdesk) its not very fun to write because my head-itor is a little prick who can't like anything and just wants to drop this and work on something else.

hope you enjoy, blah, OMG-WHAT-THE-FRUITCAKE-WILL-HAPPEN-TO-SORA blah, review please


	17. Chapter 17

Riku's walk back to town was no where near as pleasant as Jack's. hearing the skeleton ramble about his revolutionary plans for Christmas were not the best ones...

He barely noticed when they entered Dr. Finkelstein's lab, wondering where Sora was. He checked the clock, seeing that two full hours had passed.

He felt his heart drop stories into the ground. "Doctor Finkelstein! Has Sora come back yet?" He quickly asked, interrupting Jack.

The old man wiped off his glasses, sighing "No, I expected him to be back with you." He put the, back on, glaring at Riku "Did you two split up? And where are-"

"We did split up, what was that a bad thing?"

Dr. Finkelstein gave Jack a knowing glance, and wheeled off. Then Jack said "Oh I'm sure he's fine. We haven't had much trouble there in a long time. Maybe he got lost. Actually, yes that's probably what happened, I'm sure we can find him-"

"Jack, come help me with this whole... Christmas mess you came up with." Dr. Finkelstein called over, already sketching out some blueprints.

Jack then sighed and shrugged his shoulders "I suppose you have to find him now. Here, I'll send Zero with you, ZERO!" Jack whistled, and the ghost-dog soon rubbed up against Riku. He noted it was more like a gentle breeze than a tangible dog. "He knows the graveyard like the back of his hand, and he can also sniff out Sora." Jack walked over to Finkelstein, saying "Best of luck!"

The very same group of children from earlier walked in, a large, empty sack trailing behind them.

"Oh! Lock! Shock! Barrel! Just when I needed you three!"

...

Riku didn't know how much time he spent with Zero, calling out for Sora, checking the Highwind to see if the boy had retired early, stubbing his toe on so many gravestones it almost became numb. But Sora was nowhere to be found. He asked the residents if they had seen him, and they didn't know.

He returned to Dr. Finkelstein's lab, about to ask for a full-out search party, when a quiet voice came from the alleyway nearby "E-excuse me, but you're Riku, right?"

Riku looked in the alley, and found Sally crouching in the shadows. She waved him over, and quickly resumed "I heard you're looking for Sora."

Riku nodded "Yeah, have you seen him?"

Sally shook her head "No, I haven't, but I have an idea of where he is: Oogie's Boogie's mansion."

Riku's face fell flat with unamusement "Seriously? Please, Jack said-"

"Well, Lock, Shock, and Barrel were complaining about how they had to carry a lot of heavy things, and that sack they had was definitely large enough for a person. Not to mention they never brought Sandy Claws to here, like Jack asked-"

"Sandy Claws?" Riku asked "I think you mean Santa Claus."

Sally shrugged "Still, I think we may have just found both of them. Now what we need to do is convince Jack-"

"I'll go get Sora, and, uh, 'Sandy Claws', while you get Jack convinced that something's going on here."

Riku then ran off, leaving Sally with a part in a plan he hoped would work.

...

Sora woke with a splitting headache, a sore neck, and the feeling that he just had the worst nap in existence. He tried to raise a hand to his head, but found that there were chains wrapped around his arms.

"Huh...? Hey!" He thrashed against the chains, suddenly remembering what had happened "HEY YOU LITTLE BASTARDS! THAT FIGHT ISN'T OVER!"

"Young man, I would appreciate it if you didn't use foul language."

Sora the noted that he was tied up with an old, fat man in a red suit. "Oh GREAT. Tied up with some Santa Clause knockoff-"

"I'll have you know I really am Santa, so behave or I'll put you on the naughty list if you aren't already!"

Sora stopped struggling for a second, and stared at Santa in flat disbelief. Hs eyes narrowed in annoyance "Fine, prove it. What's my name?"

Santa took a quick look, and thought for a moment. "Hmm, I do believe you're someone from a different world, ah... Hm, Sora, was it?" Both looked even more annoyed "Ah yes, you're that boy from Traverse Town."

Sora processed this for only one second before screeching in anger "WHAT THE HELL! YOU NEVER GAVE US ANY PRESENTS!"

"Now now, no need to use-"

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH OUR LIFE SUCKED?! I MEAN, SERIOUSLY!" Sora yelled, kicking and causing the chain they were dangling on to swing.

Santa calmly waited for Sora to stop, then said carefully "I just couldn't. My magic has boundaries just like yours. You and Riku didn't believe anymore, and even then the things you asked for were too big, things I couldn't grant anyways."

"Really, you could've just given us a pair of candy canes or something every other year or so...!" Sora growled, still bitter.

"You never asked. Again, both of you stopped believing very abruptly, and I can't deliver presents to anyone who doesn't believe in me and the spirit of Christmas."

Sora sagged against the chains, sighing. He then asked "You got a clue where we are?"

"Sadly, no."

Sora took a good look around: a shabby looking place, something that looked like a roulette table thing was beneath them.

Then suddenly lights came on, causing Sora to hiss at the change in lighting.

"So, you're both awake now! FINALLY!" A flamboyant voice said. A spotlight illuminated what looked like nothing but a large, vaguely humanoid burlap sack. "It's been quite awhile since I've had a kid mess around in here, and not to mention this 'Sandy Claws' I've been hearing about!" He rambled while moving along a walkway about even with Sora and Santa. "Though I think it's kinda laughable, how easy it was to bag you two!"

Sora glared at him "How about you just let us go!"

The sack then laughed even harder "Oh please! If wanted to let you go, I wouldn't have brought you here in the first place! Gosh you're such a dumb kid-"

"LET US GO YOU FAT IDIOT!" Sora yelled.

The sack paused, then stomped his foot and said angrily "That's Oogie Boogie to YOU!"

Sora laughed "Oh, so you're the guy I heard about? Not too impressive-"

"Shut that disrespectful can of yours now!" Oogie then pressed a button, about a dozen or so very sharp, pointy, definitely-don't-want-in-your-face knives appearing. "I was thinking of having some fun before cookin' you both up, but maybe I won't."

Sora stiffened, and began racing around his thoughts. _Okay, I have my hide and Santa's here to save...! What did he mean by fun? Could I use- YES! Yes! Perfect! It looks like he loves gambling!_

"Hey Oogie! Whadda say we play a game?"

Oogie stopped, grinning "Game? Oh, so you DO want to gamble for your life!" The knives vanished. Sora to a moment to think if this was a good thing, then said "Yeah, of course!"

Oogie paced around some more, asking "So what do you think? Dice? Roulette? Maybe a quick match of poker?"

Sora blinked.

"Well?"

He looked down at the roulette wheel below him, then said "If I can get around that thing ten times, then you let us both go." _Should be easy, I mean, how hard could this be-_

"Okay then!" The chains around Sora dropped away, him following instantly after with a yell of surprise.

Right when he got back on his feet, the wheel began moving, blades and traps began sticking out, prepared to kill and maim.

"Ten laps! Go boy go!" Oogie cackled.

The wheel wasted no time in getting up to full speed, and soon, Sora felt like a hamster on a wheel. A big, deadly, very unfun wheel. It was going so fast, he could only get a foot or two before becoming short of breath and dizzy, forced to stop and catch his breath again while doging a full arsenal of tortures-

"Negative one! Better get running, 'cause when you hit minus ten I'm calling it quits!"

Sora cried out as a blade tore open his side "YOU BASTARD!" But just as soon as he cured himself he got another flurry of cuts.

"Negative two!"

_I gotta save myself, I gotta save Santa! _Sora kept running long after he was exhausted, that one thought keeping him going. He began mumbling it, jumping between blades effortlessly while repeating his survival mantra, parrying another set while stating it again.

"Negative three!"

He felt something warm rising inside of him, as his voice began getting louder and louder. He then screamed "I GOTTA SAVE US!" He was engulfed in a furious red light, suddenly boosting in energy and speed. A second Keyblade appeared in his free hand, and he began clearing the way to make up for the laps.

It was only after he had quickly made up all three, did he realize that Santa was cheering for him, that he had hit Valor Form without even being consious of it. He thought about Flora's words

_"It relies on your courage and willingness to defend others."_

He chuckled and shook his head "Oh please..." He then noted the Oogie's loud voice had faded. He glanced up, and found Oogie messing around with Sally.

"Say, Sally, never figured you'd want to hang around with me! Finally abandoned that idiot Jack?"

Sora put his movement on autopilot, demanding "Sally! What are you doing here?!"

Sally shook her head rapidly, then Oogie wrapped an arm around her "Aw, what's wrong sugar?" He then rambled, pointing out how FUN this was from his perspective-

But Sora noted a quick flicker in Sally. Her hair turned white for the briefest second. He quickly noted when a contraption would spring up, then timed his run so that when it launched at him he bounded off.

"RIKU NOW!" He yelled, bringing his Keyblade down upon Oogie Boogie. 'Sally' quickly melted away into Riku, both the boys quickly getting the fiend surrounded.

"H-hey now! No need for-"

"No need, you cheating prick?!" Sora hissed "You nearly killed me! You nearly killed Santa Clause!"

There was an awkward silence. _Kingdom Hearts, did I really just say that?!_

Riku quickly picked up the slack "Oogie, I don't think Jack will enjoy this-"

"That's only if he finds out! It's not like- GAAAH!"

"Only if I find out WHAT, Oogie?" Jack was suddenly behind him, looking truly menacing for once.

Oogie backed away, only to be stopped by Sora and Riku. "He just tried to kill me, nothing too big." Sora said, shoving Oogie towards Jack.

"Please fellas! We can talk about this-"

"I don't think so, Oogie, were gonna have a nice, long talk about this-" Jack grabbed Oogie's arm, but he jumped away. Unfortunately, a string got caught on the bones, quickly unraveling into a pile of cloth and bugs.

Riku and Sora quickly scrambled away, crying out in disgust, while Oogie's voice lamented "No! My bugs! My bugs!" The insects and arachnids quickly scrambled away, except for one that contined to squeal "MY BUGS!"

Sora quickly stomped it to death.

And that, well... That was that.

* * *

Phew, finally done with that. Only one more quick chapter and we're off to another world! Which one? My most favorite world: LE CITE DE CLOCHES! =D

But we're not done here just yet, one more chapter in Halloween Town first!


	18. Chapter 18

It was kinda... awkward, to put it bluntly, as Sora and Riku tried to explain to Santa that Jack had good intentions in mind, but eventually the jolly man headed back to Christmas Town with moderately hurt feelings, but no worse for wear.

After goodbyes and see-you-soons, Sora and Riku began walking back to the Highwind.

"No Kairi," Sora kicked a medium sized rock a good couple feet "No Maleficent," he kicked it again, even farther this time "and nothing but a huge waste of time!" The rock vanished into the trees with several large thumps.

Riku patted Sora's shoulder "I don't think meeting Santa and throwing in a few good words was bad."

Sora continued to pout "I nearly got killed along with that, let me point out." He then moved his jacket aside and opened up the tear in his shirt, revealing a long scar that wouldn't fade away for another day or two "I swear I saw my own guts!"

Riku only tsk-ed "We need to get that sewn up."

Sora glared at him, then tucked his jacket back around with a small "Hmph."

Riku rolled his eyes, and just continued to walk while Sora began muttering to himself angrily... Something about shoving a Keyblade up someone's ass.

Riku paused, noting voices coming from the graveyard. Sora continued walking, too caught in his ranting to notice. Riku glanced at Sora, then quickly hopped over the wall surrounding the graveyard in hopes that Sora wouldn't notice. He felt that his companion had a bad enough day already, and didn't need to be bothered with whatever this was. He hid behind a gravestone, listening intently to the conversation behind it.

"... So two boys recently arrived?" A cold, feminine voice asked.

"Y-yes!" A shrill, terrified voice, a young girl.

"W-we even kidnapped one of them!" A boy's voice, equally scared.

"Hmmm, how intriguing." The woman mused. She then commanded harshly "Describe them to me."

"Um, o-one was a mummy! White hair and a shocking blue eye!" The girl again.

"T-there was a v-vampire too! Ridiculous haircut! Poofy pants!" A different boy, but he clearly making it out that he was on the border of dying from fright.

Riku felt his stomach sink when he realized just who these strangers were and who they were talking about. Lock, Shock, and Barrel were handing over information about him and Sora to Maleficent. _Heh, maybe I should have brought Sora along-_

Then Maleficent whispered "I do believe someone is spying on us."

Riku froze behind the gravestone.

Next thing he knew, a bolt of lighting threw him to the ground right in front of the witch herself.

While he gasped and writhed from the electrical burns, Maleficent remarked "Oh, so one of those boys was playing hero, was he?" She then lifted his head delicately with one thin hand, continuing "I wonder if he realizes that's just what I hoped he would do."

Riku weakly slapped it away, hissing "Go... go burn in hell... or something."

Maleficent laughed, delcairing "But dear, I am practically the QUEEN of hell."

Riku tried getting up, but another shock from Maleficent caused him to spasm and buckle back onto the ground.

"Riku, you really shouldn't fight me. I just have your best interests at heart."

"What... Interests?!" Riku gasped, still twitching and trying to hold onto consiousness.

"The dark kind." Maleficent said simply, as Riku's entire world faded to black.

* * *

Sora collasped in the Highwind, back in his normal clothes, and yawned "Gosh, Riku, I'm beat. What's say we... Riku?" Sora then noticed his partner was gone. "Riku?" He peeked his head out the door, then shrugged.

_He'll be back later. He's always back later. I'll just stay the night._

It was then, when he turned back to the small seats, that he noticed a small package. He picked it up, examining the small box, then opened it. First there was a letter in a neat, scrawling script:

_Dear Sora,  
I must say, thank you for saving me earlier today. It was the right thing, and doing that right thing has been proof of how much you can accomplish if you let the past go and focus on the future, even for only a short time.  
Enclosed in this box is something I think you shall find useful on your journey,  
take it, remember who your friends are.  
- Santa Claus_

Sora set the letter aside, and saw the small orb laying on a cushion of fluff. It was blue, with a flame design running along inside of it. It was a new Drive Form! Breaking into a small smile, Sora gently let the orb inside of him, it letting him sample its power.

His clothes became blue with flames, and he started floating a foot or so off the ground. He summoned his Keyblade, letting it float rather than holding it. After all, he knew _everything_ about magic now. He could kick Kairi's butt in an instant with a simple counter spell if he decided. He floated around, not really feeling like doing anything especially daring, like maybe reading a nice classic novel or something, occasionally letting a few fireballs, blocks of ice, or strings of lightning play around in his hands. He had the entire ethereal world at his finger tips-

The drive faded away, leaving Sora feeling hollow. He tried calling it again, but it resfused to come. _Learn my secret, and _then_ you shall have my splendors._ It almost hissed with annoyance at the back of his mind. It reminded him of a testy scholar.

Sora sighed, then flopped into one of the hammocks the Highwind conviently kept for overnight trips or stays, and fell into a fitful, worrying sleep.

* * *

And NOW we are done with Halloween! Thank GOD. And weeeee Wisdom Form is next to unlock!... But we all know valor's our fave ;P

oh yes, and about Riku... I'LL NEVER TELL! YOU HAVE TO GO REPLAY KH1! XD


	19. Chapter 19

The next morning, Sora woke to an empty Highwind. He sat up, feeling lost for the first time in years. Stay here, wait for Riku, or leave now to find Kairi. Those were his options. He bit his lip, then began pacing around the cabin.

_I promised The King I'd keep Kairi safe!  
__**You've been living with Riku your whole life!**__  
Kairi's a freaking Princess of Heart!  
__**Riku has been taking care of you since you were four!**_

He grasped his head, moaning "Dammit! Why are you making me choose?!" Sora lamented for a few more moments before sat down in the pilots seat, and curled up. He COULDN'T choose. He couldn't leave Riku, but he also couldn't let Kairi get hurt. If was like choosing between burning alive and drowning. What was the point of choosing if you were going to die anyways? Both had their share of torment.

He took a deep breath, then grabbed a piece of paper and quickly wrote a note:

_Hey Riku,  
Sorry, but I had to leave without you. I know, it stinks, but I promised King Mickey I'd keep Kairi safe, and we can't lose a Princess of Heart anyways. I am REALLY sorry that I had to leave you behind, just please understand what's lead me to this choice, okay?  
Besides, you can catch a break, settle down, let me handle the responsibility for once. Get Jack or Doctor Finkelstein to help you out with that.  
REALLY  
REALLY  
REALLY  
CROSS-MY-HEART-AND-HOPE-TO-DIE SORRY.  
-Sora_

Sora examined the letter, then quickly pinned it to a tree outside the Highwind. He lingered momentarily, then rushed back inside of the Highwind, and took off before he could regret his decision.

* * *

The first world that entered his sight was the one he landed on. It was a Middle Ages city from the look, and Sora honestly couldn't care less. Just somewhere to look for Kairi, try and find some clue to her whereabouts. Somewhere to gather himself.

The gates to the city had multiple guards, each set stopping people and demanding... he couldn't hear, but they sounded jeering and angry. Sora quickly drew his hood up, hoping to sneak by.

_No eye contact. Not a sound. Go about your own business. Ignore them-_

"OY! You! Gypsy heathen!" A strong arm jerked Sora around, and soon he was staring straight at a guards snarling face "Don't you know you-"

"He's with me!" A woman said, dragging Sora towards her "He's my nephew, first time in Pairis."

The guard looked at the woman behind Sora, then growled "That's a few more guilders then, for the trouble." The woman handed over a few coins, then led Sora away with a disdainful huff.

"Those idiots wouldn't know justice if it kicked 'em between their legs... Are you okay?"

Sora looked up, taking off his hood, and finally got a good look at the woman who had saved him.

Her skin was a rich caramel color, hair was raven black, eyes were piercing and mysterious green. _She looks quite nice,_ he thought, _very... curvy... _He immediately stamped out the thoughts that followed after.

"I'm Esmeralda, and you?"

"Sora."

Esmeralda smiled, gripping Sora's hand in a firm shake "Nice to meet you, Sora."

Sora nodded, pulling his hand back soon after "Thank you for helping me-"

"It's no big deal, not with Frollo treating us all like outcasts." She mentioned harshly "You don't owe me anything for back there."

A small goat at her feet bleated impatiently, and Esmeralda sighed "Yes, I know we need to meet them soon Djali! Just give me a second or two!" She addressed Sora "Do you need a place to stay? If so, you can join me and Djali in our group-"

Djali bleated again, beginning to run down the road at a steady clip. Esmeralda sighed, then said "If you do, ask around for me or my mentor, Clopin. We can get you some help." She started dashing after her goat, yelling back to Sora "Best of luck at the festival today! I hope there's always good coin in your pockets!"

Sora paused for a moment or two, then yelled back "S-same to you!" But Esmeralda had already been lost to the crowd.

"Festival, Huh?" Sora murmured to himself, but a random citizen responded "Of course! The Feast of Fools is today!"

Sora gathered his jacket around him, and began making his way through the crowd "Maybe I can get some information there."

* * *

Maleficent chuckled as she watched Riku train his darkness.

"Yes, everything is falling right into place, isn't it?" She turned to her companion, a man hidden in deep folds of brown cloth.

"... Yes, they very well are..."

* * *

Gah, now these things are pouring like water from me! Oh well, the city of bells awaits! I'll definitely have some fun with this, since I've have ideas ever since I started Halloween Town. Also, I am not sure now many worlds I should have after this... Suggestions, My dear readers?


	20. Chapter 20

Sora easily made his way through the crowded streets, already being quite street-smart himself. The only hard part was getting directions.

"Hey- wait! Could you?- Please, I'm new here- UGH!" Sora groaned in annoyance "Doesn't anyone here have a heart to give directions?!"

"Yes, the locals aren't very helpful, are they?" Sora glanced over his shoulder to find a man in his late 20s, blond hair and blue eyes. He stashed the map he was reading in his blue cloak, a glint of gold flashing into Sora's eyes. "Don't mind them, they're just too busy to bother." He then held out his hand "Captian Pheobus, at your service."

Sora's gaze flickered between Pheobus and his hand, and he then said curtly "I'm Sora." He wasn't quite ready to trust him yet.

Pheobus withdrew his hand, noting the boy's uneasiness "Okay then, Sora, where are you headed?"

Sora shrugged "I heard about a festival, I just need to know where it's held."

Pheobus pulled out his map again, muttered a bit, and looked around. He then cursed, and crumpled up the map, tossing it away "You leave town for only a decade or two and they change everything! I'm sorry, but I'm of no use to you. I've recently come back from some wars, and the town has completely changed on me-"

He took a look down an alley, and peered through the crowd, then sighed "Everyone's a critic."

Meanwhile, Sora had decided to take the outdated map, and at least try and make sense of it. There was a square, in front of someplace called 'Notre Dame'. It was really the only suitable place for a festival Sora could find. A town could change, but an important space like that would probably stay. He glanced at the names of the roads on the map, then the one he was on. A few more exchanges of real world and parchment quickly set him on his way.

When he got there, the party was just starting to pick up, a sour smell of fresh wine starting to waft through the air, rowdy yells already becoming louder and louder. Sora quickly wondered why he decided to come.

_Just ask around. Get a few guys drunk enough and they'll spill anything._

He then spent the next hour or so questioning after anyone like Kairi or Maleficent, even Riku in the slight case that he jumped worlds without a Gummi Ship. No matter how loose lipped the person was, it was apparent that neither of his targets were here. He threw around the name Ventus a time or two, to equal response. He wasn't sure if he was annoyed or not at that.

_So... no Kairi, no Riku if he's not in Halloween Town... Not even that bastard..._

He sighed and collasped onto a table, trying to ignore the festivities. To be honest, things were getting a little too loud for his tastes. Someone eventually shoved a mug of ale or something in front of him, but he gingerly pushed it away. No way he was trying the stuff, not when Riku and Kairi needed him.

And yet, his hand lingered on it, a darker part of him hoping he would give in, get drunk off his ass, and wake up cuddled in bed with Riku, only a night gone by, still trying to stay warm and struggling to stay alive. No Kairi. All just a dream.

He brought his hand back over, folding it up with the other into a pretty okay pillow. He wondered what he was going to do. He saw all the fun people were having, then turned out to the crowd and decided to enjoy whatever shows he could see from this vantage point. _Might as well enjoy the party while I can._

And then the crowd to his left gasped and roared in delight. He glanced over, finding that upon the stage was the very woman from before, Esmeralda. At first he was mesmerized by the way she danced, then quickly lost interest. _Too old for me, never really liked sluts anyways._

He drew his attention elsewhere, but then quickly heard stunned gasps

"Is she really?!"

"She's daring THAT?!"

Sora looked back over at Esmeralda, and quickly found she was sitting in the lap of a much older and official-looking man. He cringed, seeing the dissonance between a twenty-something young woman trying to seduce a fifty-something old man. Esmeralda then pushed the man's hat down, backing off with a smirk on her face. The audience was roaring in delight.

Sora clapped lightly, muttering "You've got spunk, Esmeralda."

Shortly after, people began coming up on stage, clamoring for the title of "King of Fools". Sora scoffed at them "Who would want a title like that?" But then someone shoved him over, saying "Hey! How about this guy?!" Esmeralda winked at him when he was on the stage, then waved her arms at him with a flourish. A few boos from the crowd and a headbutt from Esmeralda's goat later, Sora was pushing himself up from getting booted off the stage.

He then squeezed some puddle water from his jacket, and said angrily "That's it, I'm outta here." He stormed off, making his way through the crowd and deciding he had wasted enough time. He heard someone mention "Really ugly!" But just figured it was part of the competition.

He froze when he heard someone scream for help.

He turned around, seeing the newly crowned King of Fools tied to a spinning wheel, getting pleated with all sorts of garbage.

"Hey, stop that!" He said, starting to make his way back over. "Stop it!" He said louder. No one payed attention, continuing to laugh at the heinous sight like nothing was wrong. Sora yelled this time "STOP IT!"

He had had enough, and he summoned his Keyblade, leaping onto the stage and screaming "STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" The people fell silent, staring in confusion at the boy who had interrupted them. "What did he do you?" Sora looked back, finally noting how hideous this guys mug was. He quickly stamped down his revulsion, and continued "I don't think he's done anything wrong to deserve this!"

He then heard footsteps, and Esmeralda's voice quietly asking "Are you okay? I'm sorry I even brought you up here..."

The old man from earlier stood, commanding "Both of you Gypsies off of there at once!"

Esmeralda called back "Of course we will, just as soon as I free this poor creature!"

The man scowled "I said NOW."

Sora held his Keyblade in front of him "We said we'd help him out first."

The man banged his fist, yelling "OFF!"

Esmeralda pulled out her knife and cut the poor mans bonds, yelling back "JUSTICE!"

The man sank back in his chair, then waved his hand and sighed "Just arrest her, Captian."

Sora then noticed that Pheobus was on his horse next to Frollo. He briefly protested "But one of them is a child-"

"Just do it, Captain."

He nodded, and waved his men forward. Esmeralda quickly counted them "123456789... So there's ten of you and two of us." She began sobbing, drawing Sora closer to her while pulling out a handkerchief "Oh, what's a poor girl and her nephew to do?"

Sora muttered "It's a little late for sympathy points-"

She then blew her nose on the hankie, a puff of colored smoke covering them both. Sora felt his hand jerked away, Esmeralda's disembodied voice hissing "This way, run!" He followed, hearing the unnoticing crowd gasping and crying out "Witchcraft!"

They hid behind a set of masks, and Esmeralda said quickly "You don't owe me for that either. Anyone who can stand up to that deserves almost anything free in my book."

Sora said back "Please, anyone could-"

Esmeralda's reply was distant as she made sure none of the guards were coming for them "No, I've been around Pairis long enough to know that you are one in a million." She then covered his mouth and ducked his head under the masks while pretending to be one. When danger had gone away, she slipped away while gesturing Sora over. She nodded to the grand cathedral "There we'll be safe. Quick, get that hood of yours over that mane of hair."

Sora mumbled in protest about his hair, but soon they were both moderately disguised. They easily slipped into the cathedral, and sank to the floor in relief.

Danger was averted for now.

* * *

Weeee writing. You guys like the story right? Then review and I might just put up more!


	21. Chapter 21

Sora pulled off his hood, and stood in awe of the beauty surrounding him.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Esmeralda asked, patting his shoulder "Notre Dame is one of the most beautiful places I've seen in my life."

Sora nodded distantly, already imagining what Kairi would say. He could almost imagine her holding her arms out to the vast hall, giggling _"Sora! Isn't it amazing?"_

"You thinking of anyone special?"

Sora jumped out of his thoughts, asking dazedly "Huh?"

Esmeralda asked again "Are you thinking of anyone close to your heart?"

Sora tugged at his jacket "I don't have anyone special."

Esmeralda frowned, sighing "That's a lonely life to live."

Sora began walking through the cathedral, saying curtly "No it isn't."

He closed his eyes, ignoring the light drones of others praying. He had never been much of a person of faith. There was only one church in Traverse Town, and he had visited a few times to get away from Heartless, but all he really saw was just a very fancy building. He honestly thought if such a benevolent and loving god existed, then he surely wouldn't have sent two young boys into such a terrible life.

He opened his eyes again, comparing the grand cathedral to the church back home. Notre Dame just had... More life to it. More devotion poured into the sculpting and art. He stopped, bathed in the warm light of a grand stained glass window.

He felt Kairi would love all of it, and that made his freedom feel so much worse.

He heard a creak behind him, and whirled around with Keyblade bared. It was Pheobus, but that didn't make him lower his blade "What are you doing here?!"

Pheobus raised his hands in surrender "Just to make sure you're both okay-"

"You're here to arrest us, aren't you?" Esmeralda was bold enough plot grab a candelabra and lash out at the unwelcome Captian.

Pheobus shook his head "I was just-"

"Good work Captain! Now arrest them!"

Esmeralda cursed under her breath "Damn, it's Frollo!"

Sora hissed back in annoyance as he dismissed his Keyblade while raising his arms "Frollo?! REALLY?!"

Esmeralda replied "Hey, get that weird sword of yours out! We might need to run again."

Pheobus whispered to both of them "Claim Sanctuary!"

They glared.

"SAY IT."

Frollo stopped in front of the three, saying "Captain, aren't you going to arrest them-"

"I can't," he said, turning away from Sora and Esmeralda "they claimed Sanctuary."

Frollo scowled "Then drag them out and-"

"Sir, I don't believe that would be advisable." Pheobus said with a nod upwards.

Frollo glanced up, then sighed "Very well," he spat at Sora and Esmeralda, saying "These witches only get forty days anyways." He walked away, Pheobus following after with a brief look back at the two newly deemed prisoners.

Sora asked "Forty days?-"

"Then they can do whatever they want with us. I'll take a look outside-" Esmeralda barely opened the door when they both heard "Place guards at every exit and entrance-"

She slammed it shut, looking nervous. "They... They're blocking us in here...! They... They can't...!"

Sora opened up the door again, peering out as guards positioned themselves at every possible place they could exit. He closed it, then said "We could wait it out, then run."

"No, that wouldn't- hey! Hey you! Wait!" She then dashed away, Sora noting the briefest shilouette of someone running.

Sora sat there, wondering if he should just try and run on his own, but then decided to at least check out who this stranger was and ran after Esmeralda.

* * *

More Notre Dame antics, LOL. Seriously guys, REVIEW! I'm not sure if I'm doing a terrible job or not! DX afheideiwfnefinlwdfnsfnk I have a really bad sense of whether I'm doing a good chapter or not! Not to mention how I have posed questions that hardly anyone replies to! I HAVE ANONYMOUS REVIEW OPEN GUYZ...! Y U NO REVIEW?!


	22. Chapter 22

As Sora climbed the stairs after Esmeralda, he wondered who they could be chasing. He felt himself leap at the thought that it could be Riku. _No, Riku should be in Halloween Town..._ He reminded himself for the umpteenth time. Yet there was an uncanny feeling that he wasn't.

He found Esmeralda panting on the balcony of Notre Dame, and a quick glance made Sora note they were extremely high up. "Hey, who was that?" He asked her.

Esmeralda puffed out "I think that was the guy from earlier, the bell ringer here..."

A segment of Sora's heart sank, but he asked "Where'd he go?"

Esmeralda had caught her breath, and then jogged towards the opposite tower, saying "This way!" Sora was about to run after, but suddenly decided against it. _It's not Riku. No one I know or care about._

He walked over and leaned against the balcony, letting the drafts up here at the top of Notre Dame tousle his hair. _Back to square zero, I guess. _He sighed inwardly.

He glanced down, seeing the ant-like guards swarming around the entrance. A long walk all around Notre Dame revealed that, just as Frollo planned, there was at least a pair of men outside each exit and entrance. Sora gripped the ledge, feeling trapped as the sun set.

"I can't wait for them!" He muttered aloud "Kairi has already spent a long enough waiting on me...!"

He then heard a yell, and leaned over the balcony to see Esmeralda being helped down by someone... He didn't have time to make it out, as the person was fast and the light was dim. And soon that dimness was figuratively lit up by a light bulb.

"I can climb down! They won't expect that!"

He then almost dismissed the idea when he tried it.

He found footholds, but they were tiny, and most of the work would have to be done with arms. He quickly found somewhere to rest, and debated on whether he should wait, go through with climbing down, or just toss himself off of Notre Dame and let that be that.

He glanced behind him at the streets below, taking the third choice into consideration.

He shook his head, and went with the second. It was hard, but it was better than waiting, and the third... He thought of other things, trying to block the idea out for at least the trip down.

He steadily made his way down the cathedral, once he even slipped, but soon he sighed in relief as he felt his shoes gingerly touch solid ground. He heard a set of hushed voices

"Thank you. Now, I have one more favor to ask of you, Qusimodo, please, if you see a boy named Sora, help him out of Notre Dame as well."

"O-of course. Any friend of yours i-is a friend of mine."

"Now, here, something for you. Remember, when you wear this woven band, you hold the city in your hand-" there was a clang "I have to go now, thank you, Quasimodo!"

Sora then heard shouts, and quickly hid in the shadows of a statue. Guards passed him, and he sighed in relief when they didn't notice him.

He hopped down from the statue, and began walking down the alleyway. He kept his hood up, as he tried to figure out how he'd get to the Highwind from here. The streets offered no help, nor did the somber light of the night. He found a way out of the city, but it wasn't in the right place. It was the graveyard outside of the city.

"Dammit..." He sighed, facepalming. Sora then looked around for the Gummi ship, but it was nowhere in sight. He did find a hunched over figure in a blue robe.

"Esmeralda?" He asked. The figure turned, revealing Esmeralda's youthful face coupled with her goat "Sora?!" She smiled "So you made it out alive!"

Sora caught up to her, nodding "Yeah, I climbed down."

Esmeralda's jaw dropped "On your OWN?!"

"Yeah. I guess you did the same. I heard you thanking someone else earlier, um, Quasimodo, I think."

Esmeralda nodded her head "Yes, Quasi helped me down." She then nodded towards a very large grave stone "Do you need a place to stay? The Court of Miracles is always open to us outcasts."

Sora watched as Esmeralda opened the grave, revealing a set of stairs "If you're not coming, then good luck trying to evade Frollo's men."

She then vanished into the darkness, and Sora quickly stammered "H-Hey! Wait for me!"

He couldn't see anything, but certainly felt sewage water slosh around his shoes. Fortunately, Flora's earlier words about his clothes not getting dirty also applied to his shoes, and none of the muck got into them.

"Esmeralda!" He called out, his eyes useless "Esmeralda where the hell are you?!"

He then bumped into an extended arm, and Esmeralda sighed "You shouldn't be so loud."

Sora briefly ran his hand over the arm, whispering "Sorry, you just left really fast and-"

"It's alright."

They trooped through the sewer for several quiet moments, and Sora occasionally shivered as he felt something fall into his hair, squirm around his arm, or a slimy... _thing_ brushed against him. He loathed running around through the dark, and barely trusted Esmeralda with guiding him through the black passages.

He sighed "Are we there yet?" But then he blinked as the light began growing. He saw Esmeralda's shilouette, and then eventually the passageway opened to a large area draped with cloth and color. Esmeralda swept out an arm to the busy crowd of refugees as she answered his question

"Welcome to The Court of Miracles, Sora."

* * *

Lazy chapter is not lazy for once! LOL. If you're wondering why the fruitcake I'm not having much mention of Quasi, wellll (Prepares a reflect spell) a few reasons for that:

1)I find Pheobus and Esmeralda to be a lot more interesting

2)I think the pair above blend with KH better than Quasimodo.

3)I think Sora following Esmeralda around is a nice way to highlight some of his struggles, since they've both grown on the streets.

oh, and I have A LOT of surprises ahead for you guys, now that things are getting interesting! By interesting, I mean now that our sour Anti-hero!Sora is on his own and wondering where Kairi and Riku are.


	23. Chapter 23

Sora settled down in the camp of refugees fast enough, quickly learning where to rest, where to get food, what and when he needed to add in his own contributions to keep the place running. He collasped into a hammock that was pinned against a wall, realizing how weary he was from the small journey.

Soon, he felt his eyes close, and he began to drift away.

But a cacophonous noise caused him to jerk out of the hammock, Keyblade bared and eyes wide and scanning for Heartless. A group of Gypsies were carrying two men to the set of gallows the court kept for intruders. Sora squinted, recognizing one of them.

"Pheobus...? How did they catch him?" He muttered. The other he recognized as the man he had helped at the Feast of Fools. What on earth are they doing here?

"Gather 'round everyone! There's good 'noose' tonight!" The leader of the Gypsies, Clopin, announced. Sora dismissed his Keyblade, and rushed off to Esmeralda's tent. He heard all the fuss made over the event, not liking the direction it was taking.

Sora yanked Esmeralda from whatever she was doing, saying "Hey! look!"

Esmeralda gasped, then pushed her way through the crowd, yelling "STOP!"

Everyone turned to her, and watched as she clambered onto the stage and began undoing the bonds of the captives upon it "These two are friends!"

She waved Sora up, asking "Sora could you help me out with these?"

He complied, working on the ropes behind Pheobus's hunchbacked companion. He asked "You, um, you helped me... Earlier... Right?" Sora nodded, "And I'm presuming you're Quasimodo?"

Quasimodo nodded. "Um, t-thank you..."

"No problem-"

Pheobus called out to the crowd "We came to warn you! Frollo's coming with a thousand men!"

The crowd shrieked in terror, but Esmeralda quickly rounded up everyone, and soon there was a scramble to get everything packed so they could escape. Esmeralda shook Pheobus's hands in thanks "Thank you, we wouldn't have had any warning if you-"

Pheobus pulled Quasimodo in front of him, shaking his head and saying "It was Quasi here who deciphered your map." The hunchback blushed. "We wouldn't have been able to come if you hadn't given me your talisman-"

"Nor would I." The room froze, then erupted into screams of terror as the Court of Miracles was surrounded by Frollo's guards. Sora watched as dozens were taken prisoner, then began running. _I can't get captured! I can't become some useless-_

a girl's scream drew him away from his flight, and he quickly intercepted a guard's advancement.

"Go! get out of here!" He hissed, fending off more tin-plated buffoons. The girl ran, and Sora quickly found himself surrounded. Instead of giving up, he jumped up and bounced off of one of the guards, resuming his flee. He grabbed a torch and dashed through the sewers, but halted when the screams of captured innocents echoed all around him.

He couldn't just leave them, and sighed as he ran back despite all of his protests of doing otherwise.

_That's it, Sora, you are the worlds biggest idiot._

Sora didn't know how many lives he saved, he just knew that he couldn't let so many people get hurt. He remembered how Riku had always said he had a hero complex. It was what inspired them to take on the job as Heartless-slaying mercenaries in the first place. He just didn't know why, but helping people filled some void in him. It felt so natural, so _right_.

Soon, it was just him. Dozens of guards surrounding him, pointing spears with full assertion that they had power in numbers. He quickly took in the odds of getting an opening, then made and exit for himself in the same amount of time. _There is no way they're-_

Something hard and heavy banged against the back of his head, and Sora felt his consiousness flicker away before he was even aware of the hit.

* * *

Sora awoke, finding himself once again tied up. This time he found that it was to a pole rather than some other captive. He felt a hand brush against his, canceling half of the previous observation.

He refused to open his eyes, not wanting to take in another defeat. _Why am I so weak?!_ He thought, hating himself for getting beaten so easily, _I should have been able to escape those guys! But NO! I just HAD to save that one little girl, just that dozen or so people! Now I have another freaking delay on getting to Kairi, and another delay on getting back up with Riku-_

He stopped berating himself to pay attention to the voice that yelled out to a crowd. The speech did and didn't sink in, Sora feeling an odd sense of limbo.

Death? Really? Had he heard that right?

He opened his eyes, finding straw, wood, and kindling piled up to about his knees, and he felt his throat seize shut. _I'm going to be burned alive...! _He thought in dead horror. His heart began racing, and he struggled against the ropes. He uttered a soft cry or two at the burns he got as the coarse fiber rubbed against him, but his mind was driven into a panic.

Sora suddenly DIDN'T want to die. He needed to find Kairi! He couldn't die, he couldn't! He summoned his Keyblade working against the bindings furiously. But the blade had dulled, and Sora would have smacked himself for his stupidity: as a natural precaution, the Keyblade only acted as a blade when fighting. Other than that, it was a gigantic, club-like skeleton key. Still, he rubbed the teeth against the fibers, trying desperately to escape.

"...Let us send these heathens back where they belong!"

Sora began working even faster, but dropped his Keyblade in shock and pain when flames suddenly licked against his legs, and he cried out in agony. He bit down on his lip, and re-summoned the Kingdom Key, still working with all his heart to escape this fate. _I'm not gonna die! I'm not..._ He gave up on it shortly after feeling conflict with himself. Not to mention all his willpower driven into ignoring the pain that almost overtook very sense.

He heard coughing behind him "S-Sora! Stop! It's- It's no use!"

He shook his head, coughing as well from the noxious fumes and the stench of burning flesh. He then laughed weakly at a thought that sprung from his panic-crazed mind: _You know, I kinda smell delicious..._

One round of rope finally gave in, but there was still several to go.

Sora's cutting slowed as his arms felt heavy as lead, and blisters from the heat made gripping the Keyblade difficult. His lungs burned, literally and figuratively, and his sight was becoming doubled- no tripled.

He let the Kingdom Key slip out of his grasp, and he gave in to the darkness with one more feeble cough as the crowd began yelling in surprise.

* * *

There we go, fic over, we're done here. AntiHero!Sora is dead. No more angsty whining, Kairi gets her heart stolen along with all the other princesses, Riku is stuck in the darkness forever, everyone dies, worlds as we know it comes to an end.

(sarcasm tag here... Maybe)


	24. Chapter 24

_Sora! Please! You can't die! Wake up!_

_**Aw, just let him be. You know he's wanted this for ages.**_

_SHUT UP, BASTARD._

**_Come on, you-_**

_LEAVE_.

The two voices bickered as Sora floated through the darkness.

* * *

"Sora? Sora please get up."

Sora felt light and heavy, tired and energized. He opened his eyes, groaning lightly. "Kairi...? Riku...?" His voice was scratchy and hoarse.

"It's me, Esmeralda."

Sora's gaze finally stopped spinning around, seeing Esmeralda sitting beside him with a cup of water in her hand. She looked away, yelling "He's awake!"

And soon Sora was lost in a torrent of vaguely familliar faces. He didn't respond to much, too caught in the arguing voices to really feel like doing anything. He learned that he had been out for a little less than a day, and he decided he'd get back on the road.

"Thanks, but I need to find my friends." He noted his voice was still painfully scratchy, but he was definitely doing better. Still weak, but a good rest on the Highwind could take care of that.

"You're still hurt!" Pheobus protested "You need to rest more!"

Sora shook his head "My friends need me more. I've been running around in all the wrong places." He began walking down the steps of Notre Dame, waving goodbye over his shoulder

"See you guys later, I guess..."

* * *

He halted when he had gotten downstairs, once again in the radiant light of the stained glass above. His repressed trauma came roaring out from the inside, leaving his body rigid. He had nearly died. Death had never shaken him until now, since he only figured it would be painless release from this hell he called his life.

Now it just seemed terrifying. Absolutely TERRIFYING.

"I thought you wanted to die." Came a cold, but familiar voice. Sora turned, gasping

"RIKU?!"

There he was, leaning against a pillar, bathed in the shadows. He looked at Sora, smirking "Now you see how I see it."

Sora wasn't paying attention to his words, just tackling him and asking "Where the hell have you been?!"

Riku shoved him away, saying "Actually doing something."

Sora blinked "Riku, are you joking around with me? You're never been so-"

"Callous? Please, I have every right to be. You've been sitting around here, not doing anything but get caught in your own little mopey world while I have been busting my ass trying to find Kairi."

Sora protested "At least I've been helping people-"

Riku stood, marching over while pointing an accusing finger at Sora "I saw you help lead Frollo to the Court of Miracles and get captured yourself! Not to mention how you got kidnapped by KIDS in Halloween Town! You're not doing anything to help Kairi! Just being nothing but dead weight!"

Sora stopped backing away, looking hurt "Hey! That was really more of Quasi and Pheobus's fault! I... I just left the door open!" Sora sighed "Riku, are you feeling okay...?"

Riku loomed over Sora, growling "I have been jumping around worlds looking for Kairi and I find an idiot who can't keep himself out of trouble."

Sora sat in silent shock, thrown off by how Riku was acting "Seriously... Are... Are you okay?"

"Of course I am! Besides, you're the one who-"

"Riku, dear, leave him alone." Sora froze when he heard Maleficent. He then summoned his Keyblade yelling "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE YOU BITCH?!"

He noted Riku had backed away from him, towards Maleficent, and then exclaimed "Riku?! what are you-"

"He's doing the right thing." Maleficent appeared from the shadows behind him, laying a thin hand on his shoulder. She then dismissed him gently "I'll take care of this lazy boy, go off and train. Keep our princesses company, perhaps?" Riku glared at Sora, then nodded and left through a dark portal.

Sora lunged after him screaming "WAIT RIKU- AGGH!" He suddenly found himself writhing on the ground as something began tearing him apart from the inside. Something was trying to worm its way into his heart.

He heard a few light taps against the stone floor, and he looked up to find Maleficent grinning down at him "He doesn't trust you anymore, not that he's found the proper path."

Sora quickly pulled himself up, and demanded "What did you do to him?!"

Maleficent stroked her staff "I opened his heart to the darkness."

Sora charged at her "CHANGE HIM BACK-"

He froze in mid charge at a wave of the sorceress's staff.

Maleficent turned away from Sora, sighing "No need to be so violent. Maybe I won't show you."

"S-show me what?!" He demanded, still petrified.

Maleficent then swept her robe aside "You."

Sora suddenly unfroze, and he felt everything in his body grow limp with shock.

There was an exact copy of him one year ago, just with red, baggy pants and a black, white, and blue jacket. A quick glance downward, and the shoes had their yellow, clownish quality. The fingerless gloves he wore were obviously for show rather than warmth. He was smiling, with dark brown spikes of hair barely covering his twinkling blue eyes. He then said cheerily in a voice that had yet to be tainted by puberty "I'm Sora!" and extended his hand with the other resting on his hip.

The first Sora blinked, and then reluctantly shook his clone's hand. He felt tears spring into his eyes as he whispered "Is this... Is this... me...?"

Maleficent moved behind him, bending over and whispering in his ear "This is what you could have been."

Sora hardly flinched, too caught in his own turmoil to notice.

The other Sora then pulled his hand away, beginning "I grew up on the Destiny Islands for fourteen years, and I'm best friends with Riku! I know a girl named Kairi, and we're best friends too, but I'm... Kinda hoping we can be something more. Anyways, my home got destroyed by the Heartless, and I found out I could wield the Keyblade! A weapon only those of the strongest heart can hold!"

He prattled on about meeting so many friend and people, while the real Sora sat there, numb with shock. This other him was so...

**_HAPPY_**.

Everything had not just a silver lining, but a silver _everything_ from that perspective.

Sora wondered where on earth he went wrong as his tears overflowed.

"... And so we arrived at this weird castle called Hollow Bastion. I lost my Keyblade, Riku taking it from me, and I lost Donald and Goofy too. But we got back together, and proved that I didn't need a Keyblade, the strongest weapon someone can own is their heart!" The other Sora's grin faded lightly, becoming more tired, and he held his heart as his eyes started drooping and dulling "Kairi had lost her heart, and her heart rested inside of me. So I used the Keyblade of People's Hearts to release her heart, and in the process I lost mine..."

Sora scoffed lightly at his clone's stupidity, but was still too overcome by awe to do anything else. It came out as more of a hiccup as tears only grew faster and faster. Good God, this was HIM? What cruel trick of destiny had caused him to be cursed with this life, when another had been given everything? _THIS was what I could have become? What did I do to lose this?! _The envy that rose in his heart demanded that he either recapture that light, or hate himself forever for losing it in the first place.

Another boy phased away from the other Sora as his eyes closed fully. the new boy looked exactly like Ventus, just with a long black coat. His blue eyes had a dullness about them, as if he wasn't quite alive, and seemed to be hiding behind the blond spikes that fell from his hair. He whispered "I'm Roxas. I was a Nobody created when Sora lost his heart. I barely remember my first week of life..."

Sora felt anger rise and go with Roxas. He barely remembered why, though.

And then a girl appeared, platinum blond hair and icy blue eyes this time. She looked frail and slender, which was accented by the short white dress she wore. "I'm Namine, a Nobody witch with power to manipulate Sora's memories. I am a Nobody of Sora, but also Kairi."

The two fell silent as Sora woke again, and continued his tale "Kairi restored my heart, and I continued on to save the worlds from destruction. I eventually defeated Ansem, The Seeker of Darkness. With the help of my friends, I sealed away Kingdom Hearts, with Riku and King Mickey inside, to keep the worlds safe. The worlds already lost were restored, including the islands. Kairi went home, but I stayed behind to find a way to bring Riku and King Mickey home."

Roxas spoke again "I became number thirteen in a group of Nobodies called Organization XIII. I was sent to kill Heartless and gather information on other worlds. Other members mentioned Sora, but I had yet to learn of my past."

Namine continued with her quiet voice "The Organization found me, and used me to manipulate the memories of Sora, and a Replica of his friend, Riku..."

Other-Sora started up again, his voice starting to deepen and crack "I found a REALLY weird castle called Castle Oblivion. I lost some of my memories, and soon I was pining to rescue my old friend, Namine. I loved her, and I wasn't going to let anyone get in the way of keeping my promise to her. I wasn't going to let this new Organization XIII take her away."

Namine was shaking as she shook her head and whispered "It was all a lie, manufactured by me, a witch. Sora truly loved Kairi, and I used that love to make an obsession over a fake. I had my qualms about it, but..." Namine hugged her sides, smiling gultily "It felt so nice to be loved by someone, even if it was a poisoned love."

Other-Sora continued again "I eventually defeated the evil Nobodies that kept my dear Namine prisoner, Marluxia, Larxene, and Vexen. I dunno what happened to Axel, but I didn't see him again so I guess he was killed somewhere else." His obsessive, fast-paced voice halted to a slower pace "And then, I found that my memories were fake."

Other-Sora and Namine said in unison "So they needed to be restored to their proper glory."

Namine continued on her own as Other-Sora began looking sleepy again "Sora's memories couldn't be fixed with just a snap of my fingers. It would take time, so I sent Sora into a deep sleep."

Other-Sora yawned "And that... That was the first time I remembered... Kairi... Since entering Castle Oblivion... And the road... To recovery... Started..." and his eyes closed again.

Roxas spoke again "I spent the next several months hunting down Heartless, working hard to make Kingdom Hearts. Eventually, I lost my two friends, and left the Organization. But I was overtaken by a mysterious Organization Impostor named Riku, and I fell into the clutches of the people he worked with, DiZ and Namine."

Roxas's clothes morphed, becoming a set of street clothes that made him look like any other boy. "I spent a week as an ordinary boy, living in a copy of an entire world made out of data, but eventually..." Roxas began fading away, his voice growing to a whisper and beyond "I went back with Sora..."

Other-Sora yawned, and Sora noted he was now staring at HIMSELF. He had been too busy paying attention to Roxas to notice how the other him had grown in his long sleep. An exact copy, caramel hair, light tan, blue eyes. They were now equal height, as well. The other him smiled wide, saying with the real Sora's voice "It was now a full year after Ansem, and I was full grown and ready to go kick some butt and head home! Everyone kept calling me Roxas for some odd reason, but I didn't mind. I still had Donald and Goofy, and Kairi was safe, and it even turned out that Riku and The King were okay!"

the copy continued, more about Organization XIII and Nobodies and friends, but Sora tuned it out as he heard Maleficent croon in his ear "I can give this all back to you. Friends, love, the burdens of your life dissolving away into a bright future." Sora blinked, watching his alternate self still smiling and recounting fun-filled adventures. Such a bright light that could have been his. "All of it is rightfully yours, just allow me into your heart's desires, and I can grant it all."

"All of it...?" Sora dimly asked, raising his hand to wipe at the tears that still flowed.

"All of it." Maleficent nodded.

But then, Other-Sora finished his tale, and Sora felt the spell on him break. This was him. _**WAS**_. He couldn't become that happy again even if he tried, even if there was magic involved. He couldn't forget the past fifteen years of his life that easily. NOTHING could make him forget that trauma so easily.

He brushed Maleficent's hand off of him. "No."

"What-"

Sora whirled around and drew his Keyblade, yelling firmly "I said NO."

Maleficent glowered at him, then waved her staff, spitting "Insolent boy!" The Sora that could have been suddenly screamed in ear-splitting agony as he shattered out of exsistence. A scream that echoed the one inside of Sora's heart.

Maleficent then stormed away, hissing "This won't be the last of your sorrows! I shall be sure of that!" And she left through a dark portal.

Sora sat there a few moments. Notre Dame was still. He was in front of a serene statue of Mary and Jesus, the area shadowy, but illuminated by a window that emitted a single beam of light onto the cold stone.

Sora then let out a mournful sob as he collasped onto the shadowed ground, dropping his keyblade and letting it break away into fragments of light, realizing just what he had given up. Just what happiness he had lost. He curled around himself as he poured out his anguish over the life that could have been his.

* * *

okay, be honest, how many of you guys/gals/readers thought I was really just going to end it there?! NOPE CHUCK TESTA. Sora's ALIVEEEEEEEEEEEEE. And still incredibly tormented.

Sorry about being a troll last chapter, I'm just REALLY frustrated at the lack of reviewing, so review PLEASE.(also, this is the BIGGEST chapter I've ever uploaded, marked at 2500+ words. O-O)


	25. Chapter 25

Sora eventually picked himself up, spitting "Get up you useless little..." He finished his sentence with a sob, pondering the words he should use.

Stupid...

Demented...

Idiotic...

Deranged...

Nobody...

He barely had any energy to even walk to the Highwind, but he did. He kicked himself the whole while, truly feeling he was worth nothing. After all, that's probably what the universe felt, if he was cursed with such torture. There was a happier him out there, somewhere. A Sora that never knew a life without shelter, or one full of hunger. A Sora that never realized just how close he had been to losing everything he held dear. A Sora that had all the happiness and content anyone would be satisfied with. A Sora that everyone could depend on.

And that Sora wasn't him.

He staggered through the streets, berating himself for his mere exsistence. Obviously he did something that the other him didn't to grow up so harsh and hated. And what was the point of him living now? Kairi had been gone for days now, her chances of being alive slim. Riku had sided with Maleficent, hating Sora for not trying hard enough to find Kairi.

Sora lingered on the thought of Riku going to Maleficent. Maybe he was loathed that much, maybe Riku had the last straw. He was alone now. TRULY alone. Not just in another room, still near someone to talk to, near someone who cared for him. On his own, without anyone caring about his existence. He thought about Esmeralda's earlier words: _"That's a lonely life to live."_ He suddenly realized just how true it was.

He stopped just before leaving the city, realizing that no one would care if he just gave up right now, let his life drift away like so many others. He then found an armory, purchased a knife, and resumed his walk back to the Highwind. Yep, no one would care if a sixteen year-old boy took his life today. No one. Anyone who did care wouldn't know him("Oh what a poor boy"), or would probably cheer("Finally! He's gone!").

He sat in the pilot's seat of the Highwind, and examined the blade he purchased.

Sharp? Check.

Sharp enough to get the job done? Check as well.

He pressed it against his neck, almost relishing the light scrape it made. A panicked voice arose in the back of his mind, begging him to stop. Did he really need to do this? Should he give up? He still had his friends-

"What friends?"! He bitterly remarked "They've either left me or are most likely dead."

Without another thought he drew the knife across his neck, indulging in the feeling of blood running down it into his shirt and across his chest. Indulging in the feeling of death. He slumped in the seat, closing his eyes and letting his life slip away from him.

* * *

Riku brushed Kairi's hand, hoping for a tingle of life or warmth. Nothing, her eyes remained as dull as ever, her chest moving lightly up and down in a steady, shallow rhythm. She had been like this for ages, not even giving a sign that she cared that her friends were worried sick.

"Riku, why don't you persue something of more use?" Maleficent strode into the room "She is not going to wake any time soon-"

Riku stood from his chair, demanding "Where's Sora?!"

Maleficent had a sour look on her face "Say that again, this time take note of who is your superior."

Riku gave a halfhearted bow of apology, then stood and said firmly "I want to know if Sora came with you or not."

Maleficent turned away, walking to the window and sighing "I am afraid we have lost him-"

"You said he would come." Riku growled.

Maleficent waved her hand at him "The stubborn brat wouldn't comply."

"Then how are we going to wake Kairi?!" Riku's voice rose "You said so yourself that only true love's kiss would undo the spell! We've already tried with me, and apparently I'm not the one! Sora is the only other person I can think of!"

Maleficent sighed and shook her head "Such a temper you have." she rubbed her staff "You have no need to address me like this, and no need to bother yourself over a minor setback." She smirked back at Riku, whose agressive mannerisms had been subdued "We shall just wait for Sora to come to us."

Riku nodded, and bowed, saying in a monotone voice "Yes, I shouldn't be so worried. I am sorry."

He then left the room, and Maleficent turned to Kairi. "Soon, my princess, soon."

Kairi's hand twitched.

* * *

Donald and Goofy had arrived at the city of bells, and discovered the Highwind. It was sitting there, looking very lonsome and abandoned.

"Gwarsh Donald, ya think they're here?"

Donald shrugged "They're looking for Kairi, they have every right to search here."

Goofy approached the Highwind, noting a shilouette against the glass "Donald, they might in- DONALD! COME QUICK!"

Donald ran over, disturbed by his companion's yell of terror. He was met with the sight of Goofy tenderly picking up Sora's limp body, which had a generous amount of blood on it coming from his neck.

"CURAGA!" He squawked in a panic, hoping he wasn't too late.

Sora shuddered, then became still again.

Goofy looked around for what could have done the deed, only finding a knife. "Donald, what do ya think happened-"

"I don't know Goofy, but Riku's missing."

"Gwarsh, we're caught in a losing battle here, aren't we?" He sighed, gently rubbing a gloved hand against Sora's head. "Already there's so much Heartless, not to mention how were losing Keyblade weilders left and right..."

Donald scratched the back of his neck, feeling inadequate and awkward.

Goofy then shook his head, and said "You know what, let's meet with The King about this. He'll know what to do even if we don't."

Donald nodded "Yeah. Here, I'll take our Gummi Ship while you make sure Sora stays okay. Meet you back at Disney Castle."

* * *

more drama, hooray!

Interestingly, I was derping around on TvTropes and discovered that if this version of Sora existed here in real life, he would probably be diagnosed with a psychological disorder called "Borderline Personality Disorder". No really, look it up on google, it's real. symptoms of BPD include:

1) Feelings of emptiness- he does feel hollow, as stated a few chapters back When he pondered over why he had such an urge to help people.

2) Frequent displays of inappropriate anger- look back at the earlier chapters. Some of that stuff was quite inappropriate.

3) Impulsiveness with money, substance abuse, sexual relationships, binge eating, or shoplifting- not there... Yet. Might just put that in now that I know of this disorder.

4) Repeated crises and acts of self-injury- or maybe a certain penchant of attempting to kill yourself.

5) Fear of being abandoned and/or Intolerance of being alone- not QUITE there, but implied in the above.

Really, wow. I can't believe I have screwed Sora up that Bad. I am so _**EVIL**_! oh, an if you're one of those people who reads through all this junk I put as an after note, hooray! You got a mild psychology lesson! Review please!


	26. Chapter 26

Sora felt dread settle inside of him when he opened his eyes. A bright, white hall, he could tell he was lying down in some sort of bed. He blinked slowly, wondering why the afterlife was so... Normal. Where were the angels or ghosts or whatever? It had the light, but where was the ethereal quality to it-

"Goofy! He's awake!" He blinked again when Donald came into view, saying with joy "You're okay!"

"...what...?" Sora asked sluggishly. He turned his head to find Goofy sitting next to Donald beside his bed. The dog smiled and patted his head

"Gwarsh, we thought you were a goner!"

Sora lifted a hand to his neck, finding a healing wound. He looked at his hand, disbelievingly finding an IV put in his wrist with blood steadily running into his veins.

Goofy quickly explained "We found you bleeding out in the Highwind with Riku nowhere in sight. Do ya know what happened?"

Sora let his hand drop back onto the bedsheet as his mind turned for several moments. He was alive. He was ALIVE.

Goofy pulled out his knife, asking "Do you recognize this-"

Sora suddenly leapt at it lighting fast, pleading "Please! I need that!"

Goofy held it away from him, looking confused "Why do you need this?"

Donald asked him "Do you need it to find who attacked you? Or..." He swallowed uncomfortably "Were you trying something?"

Sora didn't hear him as he was still struggling with Goofy for the knife, crying out "Please! There's just no point to this!"

"Sora, calm down this instant." A firm, squeaky voice commanded.

Goofy quickly stashed away the knife and bowed "Your Majesty!" Donald quickly did the same.

Sora flopped back into his bed, looking soulless. His eyes were blurred with tears as he muttered "Hello, Your Majesty."

King Mickey walked over, sat on the edge of Sora's bed, and gently grasped his hand, asking "Now what was that all about?"

Sora pulled his hand away, saying "Nothing."

Goofy and Donald shook their heads and shrugged.

Mickey stared intently at Sora "Could ya please help me out here, Sora? I want to know what happened from your perspective."

Sora turned onto his side, insisting "It was NOTHING."

Mickey simply turned him not his back again, saying "I got a report from Donald and Goofy that they found you in the Highwind with a slit throat and barely alive. Riku wasn't anywhere to be found, and I already know that Kairi has been taken." Sora shuddered, wondering why Mickey wouldn't just yell at him for this. "Just only a minute or so ago you were hysterical and fighting with my Captian of the Guard for something you should never need. Something is going on."

Sora folded his arms in front of him, closing his eyes and just waiting for Mickey to raise his voice, sentence him to years in the dungeon, SOMETHING. He was a king, he could do that. Sora _wanted_ it to happen. Some sort of punishment was expected, and better than this 'talk it out' kind of confrontation.

"Sora, open your eyes and look at me when I am talking with you." It was firm, but not mad. Gentle, but not smothering.

Sora opened his eyes and looked at the mouse-king, and Mickey noted the hollowness in his gaze. Mickey grasped Sora's hand again, saying "Sora, I want you to tell me everything. Go ahead, start at the very beginning if you want, just tell me at least what has happened since you left."

Sora shook his head "No. I'm dead anyways... Dead on the inside..." He looked out the window, away from the trio worrying over him "You know what they say, 'Dead men tell no tales'..."

Mickey dismissed Donald and Goofy, and lightly turned Sora's gaze back on him "I think you're still capable of telling me just what's going on, okay? If no one else needs to know, then I swear this will stay between us."

Sora then propped himself up against the headboard of his bed, feeling the sheet resting on him shift around, the pillows providing a soft reassurance. He held a hand to his throat again, running a finger along the line that would eventually become a scar.

"Take your time, Sora."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Sora broke down into a weeping mess, explaining and apologizing for everything. Kingdom Hearts it was all his fault, all of it. He should have been quicker to try and keep Kairi safe, he shouldn't have been such dead weight for Riku. The entire time he felt Mickey holding him close, patting his back and saying "It's alright." and "I forgive you."

Eventually the story had been finished, and Sora collapsed back into his bed, sobbing "It's all my fault..."

Mickey shook his head "You tried your hardest." There was an underlying edge of worry, but it was masked well enough. But there was also one that was... sad. Like he knew what Sora felt like.

Sora stared at the ceiling, letting his remorse pour out in the form of tears. "I'd be better off dead... It's why I tried getting my knife back from Goofy..."

King Mickey tilted his head "_Your_ knife?"

"Bought it at the last world I visted." Sora croaked out the words "As I said, I'm better off dead... I just want all of this to end! If I'm cursed with all of this, if I can't find happiness, the why am I even alive?!"

The King shook his head "I don't think you're better off dead."

"It's only because I wield the Keyblade. I'm useless otherwise-"

"No, it's because I believe that you're a life worth saving."

Sora blinked, and looked at the mouse questioningly.

"Every life is one worth saving." He said, smiling at Sora warmly. He then got up, and told Sora firmly "I want you to take a rest. You're stressed, exhausted, and you're still recovering from blood loss. I'll take up the search for Kairi, and now Riku, I guess. I've told Donald and Goofy that when you're ready, you should've get back to the search. Goodbye Sora, and remember, there is always someone who cares."

Sora watched King Mickey leave, and then he was left alone. But not for long, as soon after he was visited by Queen Minnie and her Lady-in-Waiting Daisy, who gave him a get-well basket and a small music box.

"It's Kairi's favorite tune, and she always sleeps to it when Mickey is away." The queen explained "I figured you'd like to listen to it, since you're in need of a boost."

Sora felt his stomach lurch at the sight of Minnie's tear stained face, but didn't comment on it. It was his fault that she was so distressed over Kairi's kidnapping. As Minnie told him reassurances and other words of encouragement, he garnered a new respect for her. She had a lot of strength and faith, something he found he could respect very easily, considering he had little or none.

After they left, Sora stared at the small box. He then gingerly wound it, and set it on the small table beside his bed. His eyes began drooping as the gentle, nostalgic melody consumed him, but sleep couldn't settle down inside of him.

_"Every life is one worth saving." _Echoed around in his head. Every life? Even such a half one like his?

Eventually his eyes closed, and he slipped into a shallow sleep.

The music box never skipped a beat.

* * *

Oh my gosh SO sorry about the late update! I've had Internet troubles. I actually had this chapter finished like, Monday, but I couldn't connect! hope you enjoyed! Reviewers get a free Keyblade! ;p


	27. Chapter 27

It took the rest of the day for Sora to recover. A day, he realized, that was his sixteenth birthday. _Attempting suicide on my birthday, how quaint..._ He chuckled softly at the realization he had been only subconsciously aware until now. He decided not to tell the others, since he forgot. It was really too late to do anything about it, anyways.

Donald and Goofy came back to check on him around sunset.

"You doing okay, bud?" Goofy asked with his cheerful southern drawl.

"We've been really worried." Sora had a flicker of a smile at how illegible Donald was.

"I'm... Fine..." He sighed "Just tired."

"Then ya need to rest more!"

Sora shook his head "No. It's a different tired." He slowly pointed to his heart "This kind of tired."

Donald and Goofy frowned, then smiled "Well, it'll take longer to recover, but you can do it!"

Donald then asked "But really, you okay? I'm picking up something you're not telling us."

Sora looked at Donald and asked "How do you know?"

Donald tipped his hat with a smirk "You don't make it to Court Magician without learning a thing or two. So could you tell us what's going on?"

Sora then shrugged and said frankly "It's my birthday. Kinda depressing and ironic, isn't it? How I tried killing myself today."

Goofy instantly gave Sora a hug "Happy birthday then!"

Sora sat in Goofys arms, numbed with shock. Birthdays had never really been anything special for most of his life, and any memory he had of parties before he lost his home was too blurry to bother with. Birthdays were really just any other day, thankful (or not) to be alive.

"How old are you now?" Donald asked.

"Sixteen."

Donald then cracked his knuckles and cleared his throat. He raised his staff, energy swirling around it and collecting into a small orb. A quick flick sent the orb spiraling into the air, where a miniature fireworks show spelled out '16'. A small bit of light condensed as it floated down into Sora's lap, forming a small blue box with white ribbon.

He stared at it.

Donald gave him a thumbs up, saying "Go on, open it."

Sora shakily undid the ribbon, and removed the lid.

Inside was a small snow globe. The stand was blue lacquer, with a gold plate bearing the carved words "Sora, Sixteen". There was a recurring silver motif of the crown that rested on his necklace. A miniature version of him was sitting in the center with his arms wrapped around his knees, staring ponderously at the sky. There was a small key underneath, and Sora winded it. A soft melody- sad, nostalgic, somber, and wistful - poured out.

Sora felt himself tear up as he examined the sculpture inside, noting how life-like it was. Yep, there was the slouch in his shoulders, blue eyes filled with internal struggle, spiky hair that bounced lightly with every step. It was him down to every little detail.

"Now that I know your birthday," Donald began "I'm gonna give you one each year. Just to show how you've grown and changed. The miniature will change as you age, and its pose will reflect your general state of mind at the time. The music will too."

He pointed a feather at the likeness sitting inside its clear prison "The lower you are to the ground, the more negative you are, a standing position displays confidence and optimism." Sora reflected on this, and figured looking at the sky probably meant his wish to move forward and find peace and happiness.

He set it down gently, and reluctantly exchanged it with a large hug for both Donald and Goofy. He just sobbed, unable to say his thanks. Donald and Goofy hugged him back, glad that he appreciated it.

* * *

I realized right after posting twenty five how I screwed up Sora's age. So I just took it around and made that day his birthday. Wee magical snow globes from Donald! Oh yeah, and the song for Kairi's music box is her theme, and the one for Sora's Birthday-Globe is either Sanctuary/Passion or Dearly Beloved.


	28. Chapter 28

As the Highwind hurtled through the Lanes Between, Sora stared at his small gift.

For so long he had seen himself in a mirror, seeing a broken, malfunctioning thing that was once human. He had always seen a boy that was furious with fate and the world while he cradled and mourned the fragments of happy memories. The pity he always felt made him burn with anger, so he made a habit of not looking at himself in a mirror too often.

But now, he saw himself through someone else's eyes. After all, Donald had made it, so that was probably what he thought Sora was like. The small figure in the glass looked sad, tired, lost, but not broken. Rather, he looked like he was confused as to what he needed to do. Like he wanted to ask how, but didn't know how to ask.

_Maybe I should try to let things go..._ Sora thought as the shook the snow globe, watching the glitter swirl around and settle on his miniature double.

"You really like it, don't you?" Donald asked. Sora nodded, then replied with an inquiry of his own "Do I really look like this?"

Goofy confirmed it "Yep, most of the time you either look like that or annoyed."

Sora set it aside, sighing. He had an idea for the next step forward... Just how was he going to take it? He barely noticed Donald and Goofy landing the Gummi ship.

* * *

The world was desolate. A place filled with dust and dried red earth.

"Kingdom Hearts! What made you guys pick THIS?!" Sora sighed, his voice echoing displeasingly. Donald and Goofy shrugged

"Who knows where they're keeping Kairi."

"We just set up a random set of coordinates and go to the nearest world."

Sora folded his arms, then turned "She's not here. No one's here-"

"I wouldn't say that."

Sora turned, not even bothering to acknowledge his friend. Riku was smiling warmly, but there was an... Unnerving quaility to it.

"Funny, how we meet again. Here, somewhere abandoned, forgotten." He said, walking towards Sora. Sora only stood still, wary of his friends actions. He thought he saw a flicker of gold in his eyes. Riku stopped in front of Sora and held out his hand, but Sora only glared at his hand, then him.

"What's the big deal?" He asked, slapping the hand away "Last time we met you were chewing me out and with _her_."

"He was with who?" Donald asked.

"Maleficent." Sora answered curtly, summoning the Kingdom Key and taking a step back.

Riku looked regretful "Okay, Sora, I know you might be hurt about that, but I promise, I'm not up to anything against you-"

"Oh, so you think berating me for not trying hard enough is nothing against me?! You think you have nothing against 'an idiot who can't keep himself out of trouble'?!" Sora snapped.

Riku looked unnaturally calm, but that was a quality he had always possessed. He then put his hands in his pockets and looked at one of the cliffs that loomed in the distance "I've found Kairi. She's fine-"

"Then. Where. Is. She." Sora hissed through gritted teeth. He was getting really annoyed with Riku's attitude.

"With Maleficent-"

"Then how is she okay?!" Sora threw his Keyblade at Riku, who quickly summoned his own and hit it out of harms way. Now his calm demeanor was breaking

"Sora, calm down and use that demented head of yours. I'm playing double agent, I'm pretending to help Maleficent. I've been waiting for you to get smart enough to find her hideout, so we can both get Kairi out." He paused, then extended his hand again and pleaded "Come on, I can't do it without you..."

Sora looked at his hand, then asked "Where's the world?" He then muttered "You could've told me, bastard."

"A place called Hollow Bastion. Maleficent says it was known as Radiant Garden an age ago, though."

Sora folded his arms in front of him "Then I'll meet you there."

Riku waved his hand with a smirk, a portal of darkness appearing "We can go there right now, together." Sora saw a flash of gold in his eyes again, but decided he was just imagining it.

Then he waved him away, saying "I'll get these two on track, I'll meet you there. You can leave it open for now."

Riku nodded, then disapeared into the darkness.

Sora stared at it for several seconds, his expression hard to read.

"Gwarsh Sora, you were both acting a little... Antagonistic." Goofy said, walking over. Donald nodded "But are you sure you want to go with him?"

"He's... He's my friend..." Sora said softly "I can trust him... But, he felt..." He thought for a moment "not Riku. That's the best I can explain." He sighed and shook his head "But we have to trust him. It's the only lead on Kairi we have." He looked down at Donald "Think you can put a trace on me or something?"

Donald nodded "Sure, but what are you thinking?"

Sora looked into the darkness. "You two go get the King. I'll find Kairi, and we'll get her back home."

Donald then cast a spell, Sora's necklace taking on a brief glow. "There, we should be able to find you as long as you wear that." He then began making his way back to the Highwind "Come on Goofy, we gotta go get King Mickey."

Goofy then gave Sora a brief hug, saying "Stay safe." and left with his companion.

Sora turned back to the darkness, and stepped inside.

That's just what it was. Darkness. Chaos without any sign of where he was. He tried breathing, but the inky black was constricting him, squeezing the light that dared to enter its realm. A firm grip wrapped itself around his wrist, and, instead of crying out in alarm like he wanted, Sora's lungs were filled with shadows. He panicked as he choked on the cold, harsh element. _I can't breathe! I can't breathe-_

He tumbled out into the light of a different world, landing on his hands and knees and scraping them, gasping and wheezing for air.

"That's why I wanted you to stay with me." Riku sighed.

"KINGDOM HEARTS HOW CAN YOU STAND THAT?!" Sora yelled out of panic and disorientation.

Riku cringed, holding a hand to his ear "Kingdom Hearts you don't need to yell."

He then helped Sora up, saying "Anyways, welcome to Hollow Bastion."

* * *

Another chapter up! and guess what guys and gals, we're almost done with part one. About six or so chapters for the epic final fight and then there'll be a cliffhanger so you can eagerly await part two.

I know, laziness on my part for having them just randomly meet up at a certain graveyard. Just review


	29. Chapter 29

There was one idea Sora had about Hollow Bastion. It was CREEPY. The place was empty, and every step echoed around in a paranoia-instilling manner.

Eventually, Riku stopped in front of a door, and gently knocked. No response. "Okay, she's still asleep." He muttered.

Sora then asked "So what IS the plan?"

Riku smirked as he opened the door "Simple. You wake her up and we run."

Sora felt his stomach lurch when he saw Kairi, but then irritably asked Riku "Why can't you wake her?"

"True love's kiss. That's the solution."

Sora blushed, then hissed "You know I've never kissed a girl! Besides, I'm not the one!"

Riku shrugged "Things will fall into place."

Sora began questioning his own thoughts about the flashes of gold in Riku's eyes, since they were becoming longer and more frequent.

They sat there in awkward silence.

"Well?"

"I'm not kissing her."

"Sora, act your age."

"I'M NOT KISSING HER."

Riku didn't bother to sugar-coat it "Then she'll stay like this forever."

That hit a bleak note in Sora. He felt an odd sense of god-hood in the fact that his actions now affected someone else's life. He couldn't let her stay comatose forever, though. He then reluctantly knelt next to her, and planted a soft kiss on her lips. He backed away just as fast, not wanting to bungle anything.

Kairi's eyes slowly opened, and she murmured "Sora...?"

"Yeah, it's me you damsel in distress. I hope you know you've gotten m- His Majesty scared half to death."

Kairi yawned as she apologized "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me..." She froze, then quickly latched onto Sora's arm, eyes wide in fear. Eyes directed right at Riku. "W-what's HE doing here?!"

Sora tried peeling her off "Jeez Kairi it's just... Just..." He fell short as he saw Riku beginning to crack a grin. His eyes turned golden and stayed that way. They were so much older than he truly was, and so much more...

Sora felt like he was staring into a Heartless's eyes.

"At last... The final Princess of Heart is mine." Riku said, his own voice inhumanily flat while a second, deeper voice provided all infliction. "Thank you, Sora, you proved to be just as invaluable as the witch."

Sora was frozen, realizing the danger far too late. Riku summoned a Keyblade that was decidedly not his, saying "I do believe it is time to dismiss you."

Riku raised the blade, and Kairi began tugging at Sora's arm "Please! Sora we've got to-"

Sora quickly got over his shock and scooped up Kairi just as fast and ran past his possessed friend just as he struck. "Sora I thought you knew him better!" Kairi squealed.

Sora didn't reply, unable to answer. That wasn't Riku. Not anymore. That was a stranger. Shock and betrayal numbed his senses. Riku... No not Riku... That wasn't Riku... But it still was...

"SORA! DOOR!" Kairi screamed, snapping him out of his daze. He halted, finding the massive doors out closed. He set Kairi down and tried pushing them open. They didn't budge. Kairi joined him, but soon they were both gasping for breath.

"Dammit, they're locked." Sora panted. A second thought suddenly burst into his mind: _"The final Princess of Heart is mine..."_

"He has the others too." He muttered.

"What? You mean the other Princesses?" Kairi asked. She then looked remorseful "Oh yeah, he does. I can't believe I forgot."

"How do you even know?" Sora asked.

"I feel them. They're being used." She shuddered "Like they're batteries or something."

Sora blew a spike of hair upward, watching it fall back into place. They were trapped. He glaced up at the door, then had an idea. He stood, "Kairi, find somewhere safe."

"Why?! I want to come with you-"

"I'm going to duel him for our freedom. Ours, and theirs."

Kairi stopped following momentairily, then resumed as she yelled "Why?! You'll get killed without me!"

"Oh, so what do you know?" Sora's voice held a harsh edge of sarcasm.

"That Riku may still be in there, but whoever's going to be fighting you is older and way more experienced."

Sora stopped, and turned back to her. Kairi crossed her arms, and looked away "But I guess you don't want a useless 'damsel in distress'."

Sora rolled his eyes, conceding "Fine, come along then."

Kairi smiled, and rushed up to him so they were side by side.

"So where are they?" Sora asked. Kairi held a hand to her heart, and then pointed forward "That way. There should be a few hallways, some Heartless, but eventually there'll be stairs."

Sora nodded, taking the lead. Kairi scooted in front of him "Ladies first, isn't that the rule?"

"Okay then, ladies first to get killed by Heartless." Sora smirked, placing his Keybalde on his shoulders with his arms resting on it.

Kairi glared at him, then let her jaw drop. "Did you just... Did you just SMILE?!"

Sora's smile vanished, and he testily said "Oh please, you say that like I can't." He swiped at Heartless, taking it down without a thought. Kairi folded her hands in front of her, saying softly and happily

"I didn't expect to see you happy for a long time..."

Sora stopped and turned around. She actually cared if he was happy? He turned back, feeling his cheeks grow warm at the thought of what woke her. HIS kiss. Not Riku's, not some random guy. HIS kiss. Was he really her true love?

He dismissed the thought with a scowl and shake of his head. No. He couldn't. She didn't deserve someone like him. It hurt him to think that she loved a hopeless case like himself. She wouldn't be happy with a guy who couldn't sort out his own problems, she deserved someone more stable.

"I'm sorry if I brought things up." Kairi said.

"You didn't."

"Really? I expected you to be ranting about Ventus-"

Sora whirled around, his voice a low hiss of warning "Mention that name again and I might leave you for dead."

Kairi allowed fear to chisel her features. That was a violent streak in Sora she hoped she wouldn't set off again. Sora dashed up, asking crossly "So what hallway do we need to go down?" Kairi guided him, holding her charm and hoping that his heart would heal fully soon.

* * *

"So... What's ... Ah, happened?" She asked timidly when they were on course again.

"Nothing much." Sora kept his voice clipped and bitter "Nearly died three times-"

"I'm sorry!"

Sora gave her an incredulous look, then sighed "Please, it's nothing much!" Kairi's face sank as Sora briefly described his close encounters "First I nearly got chopped to bits by some boogeyman, then nearly got roasted alive, and then Riku came and... And..." Sora became less harsh, and more sad. He held a hand to his neck, not continuing. He looked on the brink of tears. It was then Kairi noted the smooth cut that was still healing.

"Did Riku do that?" She asked, pointing at the mark.

Sora's hand closed around his throat, then went back to his side as he suddenly rushed forward to take down more Heartless. It was clear he didn't want to talk about it in front of her. Kairi huffed, then pointed her Keyblade at the Heartless and said simply "Firaga."

The shadowy creatures were gone in a vast inferno. Sora glared at her "Save your magic power, I could handle those-"

"How about handling your stuff with me?" She asked. She then tramped by him, trying to lure him into talking. It worked, as moments later Sora yelled

"I TRIED TO KILL MYSELF, OKAY?!"

Kairi froze. We knew he was sad, but... Kingdom Hearts, suicidal was something that had never occurred to her. It was her own naive self-denial that clouded the realistic option.

Sora had walked past her, muttering "I can make my way from here."

She watched as he left, and she yelled "You're going the wrong way!"

Sora only continued, waving his hand dismissively "I'll find a new one!"

She shook her head, then gripped her Keyblade tighter. "Fine. I'll meet you there then."

* * *

Kai, that might not be a good idea |_|;

oh well, more chapters, stuff gets deeper. Blah. Review please.


	30. Chapter 30

Kairi didn't know how lost Sora was, but didn't really care as she walked past the other Princecsses of Heart. You know what? No more damsel in distress. SHE was going to be the hero.

She placed a hand on the crystal encasing her sister, in a heart-sense. "I'll save you, don't worry."

She then dashed up the steps, and was met with Riku watching a gate that swirled ominously. He turned, and was coated in darkness, but you could tell he was shifting and morphing underneath the concealing mass.

Next thing she knew, she was staring at a man in his mid-twenties, with dark skin, golden eyes, and white hair. He extended his hand "Ah yes," Kairi felt her spine tingle uncomfortably at his deep voice "how nice of you to finally offer your power, Princess. Allow me to introduce myself, I am known as Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness."

Kairi held out her Keyblade "Give Riku his body back! Give him his heart back!"

Ansem folded his arms in front of him, smirking "Wow, you truly do have a fighting spirit. How amusing." He held out his hand, and a thin, dark Keyblade entered his hand. Kairi noted it didn't have a keychain. He held it out in front of him, asking "Do you know what this is, Princess?"

"A... A Keyblade, but-"

"Not just any Keyblade. A Keyblade solely developed to extract hearts. The Keyblade of People's Hearts is its official title." He then turned and gestured to the portal behind him "See this? It is a gateway to Kingdom Hearts itself. But it is incomplete."

The Seeker of Darkness raised the Keyblade of People's hearts towards Kairi.

"And now, it is time for it to be complete... For Kingdom Hearts to be mine."

Kairi stepped back, her eyes widening. She realized just what she was up against, and felt fear erase every single bit of training she had received. She was frozen, all ideas of her being able to fight were swallowed in the realization that she DIDN'T know how to fight.

She closed her eyes and held out her hands in front of her when a piercing beam of light headed straight for her. _I'm sorry dad! I'm sorry mom! I'm sorry Sora! I'm sorry everyone-_

But the impact never came.

A few gasps of pain did though.

Confused, Kairi opened her eyes.

Sora was in front of her, arms spread wide and protectively, entire body rigid. He looked back, and grimaced a smile "Hey Kairi... Sorry I'm... late." He then turned back to Ansem, furiously yelling

"Ansem! There's NO WAY IN HELL I'M LETTING YOU TAKE KAIRI'S HEART!"

Ansem looked stunned, then quickly composed himself and chuckled. "How amusing, you can still hold on to your heart."

Sora didn't respond, his mind only filled with two thoughts: Unbearable agony, and keeping his heart.

It felt like he was getting part of him ripped away, or having white-hot knives stuck repeatedly inside of him. He had NEVER felt worse, and was ready to buckle. Being burned alive was FAR more favorable than this. He was ready to surrender his heart and let it flow away into darkness while he became a Heartless.

But ready is not synonymous with doing.

Sora only grasped his heart tighter, gritting his teeth, letting sweat pour down his face with effort. As he said, he was not going to let Ansem have a chance of taking Kairi's heart.

Ansem sighed and began pacing, the Keyblade of People's hearts still aimed at Sora "It's amusing, seeing how you're willing to give your life for a girl you never truly cared for." He twisted the blade Sora suddenly lurching and screaming in anguish. "Honestly, you've told yourself time and time again what love did to people. What was the term you used? Almost like a survival mantra... Please be quiet, I need to concentrate." He twisted it back, and Sora stopped screaming, jaw slack and eyes wide. "Ah yes, 'Love got you killed.' Really, I'm finding the irony to be positively wonderful."

Kairi placed her hands on Sora's shoulders, whispering "Don't let go, don't listen to him." She let her light latch onto his heart, and tugged back as well.

"And back to the subject of wether or not you truly love her... Does she even love you? She might just be a princess playing her coy games, considering you to only be a brother or friend. Does she feel the passion and lust in your heart? Are you ready to admit those thoughts you've had of her?" He twisted the Keyblade a third time, Sora once again writhing and yelling in excruciating pain "You hold so much Darkness, you could easily corrupt such a pure light-"

"Shut up! He doesn't need to hear your stupid mind games!" Kairi yelled.

Sora suddenly whispered "Kairi... Run...!... G-get... Out of here!"

Kairi shook her head "No, I'm not letting you go!"

"I do believe it is time to end this tug-of-war."

Ansem sliced the air with the Keyblade of People's hearts, Sora suddenly going slack. A orb of light, a heart, flew from him as he fell back into Kairi's arms. Kairi stared, horrified as Sora's breathing began to slow.

"No! Sora! Hold on Sora!" She shook him. He stared at her with half-dull eyes. "Kairi... Run..."

She looked up, finding Ansem still holding his Keyblade at her. "How cute, you'll die together."

Kairi was frozen with fear, numb with grief.

Ansem was apparently stunned as well, gasping "What?!"

"NO! I won't let you hurt them!" Riku suddenly appeared, bathed in golden light. He looked at Kairi pleadingly "Run! Take Sora out of here!"

Kairi stared uncomprehendingly.

"KAIRI JUST GO!" Riku screamed. There were tears streaming down his face. Kairi then scooped up Sora's limp body, and ran.

* * *

OH MY GOD I FINALLY GET TO POST THIS. This is number one in the uber spoiler chapters I mentioned awhile back, and I have wanted to post this for EVER. Oh yeah, and no, Sora did not make a Nobody. Since that heart was a certain blond haired boy's and not really his in the first place (troll smile here).


	31. Chapter 31

Sora didn't know what was going on. He was just drifting through darkness. He was aware of pain in his chest, but it was so frequent it was starting to become almost unnoticeable. Just a dull ache.

**_I can help you... _**A voice whispered.**_You're tired, your heart is still with you but barely alive. Just let me take over, let me take care of you for now..._**

"Who... Are you?" He asked.

The voice chuckled **_Just you, another aspect of your heart. Don't worry nothing much will happen while you take a nice, long, lovely nap. Just go to sleep and I'll take care of the rest... _**Sora felt something pressing his eyelids lower and lower. Everything was so heavy, so tiring. Yes, maybe a nap would do him some good...

**_Yes, that's it. Go to sleep, Sora..._**

Sora's eyes had just started to close when a light suddenly burst around him. Another voice yelled

_VANITAS DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!_

The light had jolted Sora awake, the pain suddenly escalating along with the brightness. He moaned lightly at the thought of having to suffer more.

**_Oh don't listen to him Sora, he's just an impostor! Darkness trying to worm it's way into your heart! I'll keep you safe!_** The first voice said, the darkness coming back.

_Sora! HE'S the one who's lying! Don't give in! WAKE UP!_ The light shone again, but it was dimmer. The darkness returned

_**Oh please, you know you're not even in his body anymore! He's mine. All mine. A new body to rule, and new body to use-**_

_VANITAS I SAID BACK OFF!_ The light burst out against the darkness once more, then faded to even weaker than the last time. _I'm sorry... He'll be back... But he's... Gone... For now..._

"Sora, please wake up..." Finally a voice he completely recognized. He felt himself drift upwards, into a different, colder light.

* * *

Sora awoke to find himself shirtless and staring at Kairi. She sighed looking relieved "I thought you were dead. I'll... I'll try fixing this up now-"

Suddenly Sora jerked forward, crying out in pain. It was like he was burning alive again, sans all the smoke. Unbearable heat, unbearable pain, everything constricting uncomfortably. Then it was gone.

"I-I'm sorry! I just touched it and..." Kairi hastily apologized.

Sora glanced downward to find a burn-like wound covering his chest. It was deepest at his heart, but there was no denying that was the only injured area. He gingerly touched it, then winced and snapped his hand back.

Kairi then carefully wrapped her arms around him and pulled him against her "You take a rest, I'll keep watch."

Sora blinked and stared at her for several moments. "But... There's Heartless-"

"I'll be fine, you need to rest."

Sora thought, then shook his head "Not before... I say something really important."

Kairi was looking ahead, barely acknowledging him. Sora continued "Kairi, I... I've been an absolute asshole to you. But, it's because I've... I've..." He trailed off. He figured he wouldn't have the courage to say these words, but then thought of what would happen if he died. She should at least know. Yes, this was a step forward, finally admitting this.

"I've never really met a girl like you... No one has made me feel this way before and... I just don't know how to handle it. You're so pretty, smart... Brave... Loyal..." Kairi started blushing, but her stalwart gaze didn't flicker.

Sora cupped her cheek, forcing her to look at him "I... I guess what I'm trying to say is..." He then brought her into a gentle kiss.

And to his delight she kissed him back.

But he was the first to pull away, scared, uncertain. Kairi was smiling "So does this mean you're going to treat me like a friend and not a annoying person?"

Sora smiled back, and Kairi found herself finding that smile to be the one thing that made sticking around this little butt of a boy to be all worth it. "Maybe."

The smile then faded into a frown, as a realization slowly came into Sora's mind.

Kingdom Hearts he was probably a Heartless now.

He suddenly scrambled away from her, trying to ignore the burning feeling that filled every sense of his being.

Kairi looked dejected "Sora, what's-"

"I'm a Heartless now, aren't I?!" Kairi stared at him blankly "AREN'T I?!" He demanded even louder.

Kairi shook her head "No-"

Sora clutched at his hair, weeping "I'm a Heartless now! Everything says I should be a Heartless-" he suddenly started coughing, becoming doubled over in pain. Blood flowed in a thin stream from his mouth.

"Sora! You idiot!" Kairi quickly rushed to his side, unsure and panicking "You're over exerting yourself!"

Sora was growing limp and shuddering uncontrollably. He grabbed her hand, almost cutting off circulation in it in an attempt to ignore his agony. Kairi once again placed a hand on Sora's wound, attempting to heal it as best she could. It felt like his heart was torn in half, and small bits of it were fading away.

She was drawn out of her focus by Sora's grip slackening. She then gripped his hand just as tight "Don't go to sleep Sora, I don't want to lose you."

"I'm not..." Sora whispered back, voice hoarse. "I'm not... Sleeping. Just relaxing..."

"I'm sorry, did that really hurt?"

Sora seemed to be looking beyond Kairi, beyond the walls of Hollow Bastion, as he said "I've felt worse." He then grabbed his shirt and jacket, put them on, and pushed against her, trying to sit up "We've gotta get moving again-"

"Sora! You're not even rested yet-"

"Don't care. I'm not letting my friend get sucked into that monster."

"I agree but, well, I wouldn't say Ansem is a monster in a literal sense.-"

"His eyes," Sora began as he started stumbling back with Keyblade in one limp hand "those are the eyes of a Heartless. Golden. Cold. Bloodthirsty."

He suddenly collasped, but spent another several painful moments trying to get up. Kairi helped him up, wrapping one of his arms around her shoulders, and placing her own across his. "You sure you want to fight now?" Sora nodded, taking weak steps forward. Kairi matched his pace, and asked "So, how can you tell-"

"I've stared into enough of those bastards' maws to know." He said simply "It's hard to forget the look when it's what you see on a daily basis." He slumped against her more, his eyes starting to droop. "Gah, I really am exhausted..."

Kairi then stopped, and knelt down to help Sora sit "Then we're taking a rest."

Sora shook his head, and whined in protest "But we have to help Riku-"

Kairi placed a finger on his lips, saying firmly "Right now you aren't even able to hold your Keyblade properly. You wouldn't do any good."

Sora leaned against the wall, lamenting "But I... He's my friend, he's taken care of me since I was four, he's helped me get out of bungled suicides-"

"That wasn't the first time?!" Kairi shrieked in disbelief.

Sora rubbed the back of his head and turned away "I um... Kinda... lost count after I turned thirteen-"

Kairi suddenly hugged him, whispering "I'm sorry."

Sora sat in her arms, and closed his eyes. A tear or two leaked out, but he said nothing. He then slowly raised his arms and held her back, burying his face in her hair, in her shoulder, deciding to enjoy the intimate feeling at least once.

After all, he had a feeling he was living on borrowed time.

* * *

Weeee epic battles with Ansem ahead, I just need to figure out how it will play out. and then after some casualties and losses and a semi Pyrrhic victory(taking into account what happens later on in canon) we'll be done with part one. Review please! those who have now have Keyblades, derp!


	32. Chapter 32

It took what felt like a slow, agonizing wait for Sora to recover. Even then he was still weak. He could walk on his own, but he was slouched and his strikes weren't as strong. Kairi would come to help, only for Sora to push it away, telling her he didn't want her hurt. About an hour later Sora was once again slumped against her.

"I don't want you fighting, Sora." Kairi said for the thousandth time "Even if you have a chance of defeating Ansem, you'd run yourself ragged! You'd run yourself to the point of death!"

"Well who said the hero always had to survive?" Sora retorted "If I die, I die."

"Well who said the hero had to die?! I won't let you!"

Sora chuckled "Sometimes you can't, Kairi." He then sighed "Let's just drop it."

They walked in silence. But not for long, as they heard familiar voices calling for them.

"SORA~! KAIRI~!"

Sora detached himself from Kairi and stood as tall as he could as he turned around, looking for the source. Kairi cried out in joy, and ran to Donald and Goofy "UNCLE DONALD! UNCLE GOOFY!" She tackled them. Sora smiled at the reunion, then walked over.

"Good, I was wondering when you two would get here."

Donald gave an annoyed beak-flutter "We would've been here sooner if Goofy didn't get lost."

Goofy briefly smiled sheepishly, then asked "So where's Riku?"

Sora stiffened, then tried to explain. A lump rose in his throat, stealing his words away "He's... He's-"

"Riku's been possessed by a Heartless named Ansem. We're going to get him back and rescue the other Princesses of Heart."

Donald and Goofy's eyes widened "He has the other Princesses? ALL SEVEN ARE HERE?!"

Sora and Kairi nodded. Donald buried his face in his hat with a hopeless squawk "Then we're doomed!"

"Why?" Sora asked.

"Kingdom Hearts is probably being summoned right now!"

Kairi furrowed her brow in confusion "But he doesn't have my heart-"

Donald quickly explained "You don't need to possess the hearts of the Seven Princesses, you just need all seven consciously gathered!"

Sora looked calm, but he was reeling inside. All of that power waiting to be abused. How was he going to stop _**that?! **_But a plan soon formed in his head, and he quickly took it into action "Donald, Goofy, I want you to follow us and get the Princesses out of here."

"Okay, sounds reasonable enough." Goofy began "But could ya make a habit out if telling us what yer gonna do first?"

"It's simple. I'm gonna goad him into using Kingdom Hearts."

"WHAT?!"

Sora rolled his eyes, and prepared for the protest "What is Kingdom Hearts?"

No response except everyone's shock-frozen faces.

"Well, what if it's light? I just get him to use it and his own plan collapses-"

"What if it isn't?!" Kairi asked "You're gonna get yourself killed! I've already said that I won't let you-"

"Your support is overwhelming, Kairi, but this is the only way I can think of." Sora folded his arms in front of him, frowning "Besides, it's a 50/50 chance, if its darkness, anyways-"

"Still not the most favorable odds!" Kairi protested.

Sora noted how worried she looked. Seeing that light in her being put to the test. He thought for a moment, then said "If it's any reassurance, I'll let you stay."

Kairi was slightly relieved.

* * *

Soon, Sora was about to walk up to Ansem, Kairi at his side. Just a mere staircase separating them now. He took a quiet step, but Kairi held him back. She gave him a look that could be summed up as "I'm afraid."

Sora gently kissed her forehead, then resumed and motioned for her to stay behind. When she questioned this, he winked, as if to say "You're my secret weapon."

Then he went up the steps, standing in front of Ansem. The man's back was turned as he stared intently at the gateway to Kingdom Hearts that was forming. He shook his head as he turned around

"So. You still fight even when you're on the brink of losing it all."

Sora summoned his Keyblade, saying "I've found reasons to fight."

Ansem looked amused as he folded his hands in front of him. A Heartless, wrapped in bandages and twice his size, appeared behind him, hissing and growling at Sora.

"We shall see about that."

Sora didn't anticipate how fast the thing would be as one of its arms violently lashed out and grabbed gasped for air as the massive hand began squeezing, and he felt the massive claws sink into his skin. The blood that began dribbling down his back was barely noticed among his oxygen starvation.

Ansem was smirking "So, boy, how does it feel to fight a pointless fight for a pointless cause?"

Sora only replied with struggles to breathe.

Then Kairi cried out "SPARKRA!" and Ansem's Guardian screeched in pain as its hand let go of Sora. He took a deep breath, and quickly rolled away as the Heartless lashed out at him again. He was starting to grow dizzy, and the blood that soaked into his clothes started to creep into the edges of priorities-

"CURAGA!" As he was healing, Kairi was suddenly helping him up, berating him "You IDIOT! Be more careful!"

He nodded, then shoved her aside as a ball of darkness slammed into him.

"I expected a better fight from you!" Ansem laughed "And now you've left at least one Princess of Heart vulnerable. I swear you know nothing."

Sora quickly tried to rush to Kairi's side, but the girl had already furiously raised her blade "YOU DON'T HURT MY BOYFRIEND!" She yelled as a flurry of flames, ice, and lighting poured out of the deadly rod of flowers.

Ansem was stunned as he was barraged with magic fueled by pure fury. Coming from a mere PRINCESS, no less!

Sora quickly rushed forward, slamming his Keyblade into Ansem and yelling "GIVE RIKU HIS BODY BACK!"

A fierce battle commenced, Sora and Ansem dashing at each other, each wielding a flurry of attacks, Kairi calling forth every inch of magic she dared to try. Both sides were injured, both sides battled with full force within the eerie glow of the incomplete portal. Neither was giving up anytime soon.

Sora was drawing from his deepest reserves. He had already arrived tired, but this... This was making him weaker and weaker. Drawing upon rage would only get him so far. He was in a constant mad dash for the upper hand, occasionally activating Valor Form. As for Wisdom, he had no intention for using it, as there was no need in using magic with such a physical opponent. But Valor would fade, more of his power sapping away into a fight that he wondered if he would survive.

Fortunately, Ansem was weakening now, and he receded.

"We shall finish this in front of Kingdom Hearts itself!" He declared, and he quickly vanished into the darkness of the now complete gateway to Kingdom Hearts.

Sora dashed up the steps, but stopped in front of the portal. He turned back to Kairi, asking "You sure you want to stay and fight? I'm fine with you going home."

Kairi grabbed his hand, taking brave steps towards the portal "And miss all the fun? Nope."

Sora nodded, then wrapped his arms around her and dove in head first into the darkness. This was going to finally end.

* * *

OMG took forever to write. BUT WE'RE ALMOST DONE!

I have also decided to set up some reviewing rules, and I would like to point out to guest reviewers that I can only answer questions in my authors notes. Anyway, the rules:

1) if you're a guest, please put a name or identifier of some kind. I used "Some Random Person" before I got this account, so it's not that hard to do. If all my guest reviews are 'guest', but by different people, it's gonna be very hard to sort out.

2) please review about THIS fanfic. If you want to lament about my other projects, GO DO IT ON THAT FANFIC. These reviews are for THIS fanfic. Although if you mention another fic of mine in comparison, I will allow that.

3) please make an attempt at proper grammar. I can let spelling pass, since I'm no good as well, but considering a majority of people who are looking at my stuff are in England or America, I would like grammar that reflects your maturity. If you can read this fanfic, you can write a proper sentence.

My foreign peeps, I can let this rule slide for you. Also, wow. I have people in like, Brazil who read this. WOW. Internet mindblown. Um... Hi from America... (Awkward.)

So, those are the rules. I'll post them up on my profile, just so people can have a nice reference. If reviews aren't following criteria, I'll post up the rules on my next chapter As a reminder. I _**like**_ smart reviewers. Smartness is cool!

O yeah, and, Miss Robyn, I suggest getting an account if you're so frustrated with my TerQa teasing, since as I stated earlier I can't reply to guest reviews except in Author notes. I would also like it if you write a review that implies you like my BbS novelization for things other than shipping. Since I undertook the project for characterization and plot-hole filling in rather than shipping. As much as I love my ships, I don't base everything off of it.

zeldahearts out! Review! Thank you for reading massive AN!


	33. Chapter 33

Traveling via darkness was just as bad as Sora remembered it. Claustrophobic, dark, unbearably so in both cases. But it wasn't as bad as last time, since Kairi's light pushed against the darkness more. It was now more like traveling through a small pipe, rather than being squeezed from all sides while you hurtled through nothing.

_Take us to Ansem. _Sora thought repeatedly, still not grasping the concept of how to travel in these things. He hoped and prayed that he didn't just doom them to a life in darkness.

His prayers were answered as they both tumbled out onto sandy ground, taking in lungfuls of air.

_Wait... Sand?_ Sora ran his hands through the small grains, starting to recognize the pristine white color. He raised his head, and felt his entire self shatter.

It was... It was HOME.

Yes, there were the tropical plants, and the pristine sea! The endless summer sky and salty smell that lingered on the breeze! Sora heard a voice vaguely yelling at him, but only continued to clutch at the sand beneath him. It was home, unblemished and welcoming. Nothing had happened at all.

_But home is gone!_ Something yelled in his mind. Yet there was a serene stillness about everything. Nothing was wrong. Nothing. Sora slowly smiled a disturbed and demented grin.

Kairi shook his shoulder "Sora! Sora what's wrong?"

Sora looked at her, wearing a broken smile "Nothing. Nothing's wrong." He said in a giggling voice. Kairi recognized the signs of a mental breakdown and looked around for whatever was triggering him. She noted softly "This... This was your home?-"

She was suddenly jerked onto her feet and Sora laughed dementedly "Come on! Let's play!" He let go of her hand and raced ahead "Race you to the Paopu tree!"

Kairi lightly stumbled on the sand, stopping to watch Sora run. There was broken dissonance in his laughter, fakery lined his smiles. He looked back at her, running backwards childishly as he yelled back "Get running or I'm gonna beat you!"

Kairi shook her head "Sora! We have to find Ansem-"

Sora stuck his fingers in his ears, saying loudly and grievously "LA LA LA LA LA~! I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER HOW FAR AHEAD I AM~!" There were tears streaming down his face, rolling past his shattered smile callously as if they weren't there.

Kairi ran after Sora, trying to snap him out of it, but he ran out of her reach. He ducked into some bushes, saying "Oh? Hide-And-Seek now? I can do that!"

Kairi grabbed his hand and jerked him in front of her. "SORA! PULL IT TOGETHER!" she yelled.

Sora's delirious grin finally faded away, and he suddenly buckled into a weeping mess. Kairi did her best to keep him standing, but eventually fell onto the sand with him as he wept in her arms "Kairi... It hurts... It hurts so much..."

Kairi held him close, reassuring him while she looked around. The island now seemed to be crumbling, cracks in the ground and bits of land pushed uneven. _It looks so much like him._

"I see you enjoy the change in scenery." Ansem's voice surrounded them. Sora weakly raised his head and screamed "YOU BASTARD!" His voice was hoarse and full of torment. A creature wanting to be put out of its misery.

The islands melted away, Sora frantically lunging at the fading colors with an anguished gasp. What was revealed was barren darkness, a small set of islands holding a eerily glimmering white door.

Sora bolted to his feet and straight at Ansem, bellowing "IT'S PERSONAL NOW!" Ansem raised a shield, but Sora merely shattered it with one powerful stroke of his Keyblade. Bits of darkness started wafting off of him. "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!" He screamed as claws formed on his hands and began tearing open wounds.

Kairi watched in horror as they fought, darkness versus darkness, feral instincts running rampant. Sora eventually became a shilouette with glowing yellow eyes, losing legible yells into shrieks of battle. Inhuman speed and claws became his weapons. She didn't know where this darkness within Sora came from, not when it was so potent and violent.

"Sora..." She said weakly. She then said louder "Sora stop!"

The thing that was assailing Ansem flipped off of the old Heartless, backing away on all fours towards Kairi with a throaty growl. Kairi said firmly "Get out of this darkness."

The half-heartless boy looked at her, then blinked slowly as the darkness faded away from him. Soon Sora stood, looking dead.

They watched as Ansem slowly raised a bloodied hand, gasping "This... isn't over. Kingdom Hearts, the ultimate darkness, is mine!" He raised his voice, commanding the doors to open "KINGDOM HEARTS! FILL ME WITH THE POWER OF DARKNESS!"

The doors began creaking open, but Sora took a step forward, saying "Ansem, you're wrong. I may have my doubts, but... Kingdom Hearts, is LIGHT!"

Ansem shook his head, but then gaped in fear as light began pouring out of the gateway to the Heart of all Worlds. Sora and Kairi raised a hand to their eyes, also overwhelmed in the bright power that was escaping. After a minute or two, they saw Ansem fading away. The ghost lunged at them, hissing one final curse as he died "You shall pay hell for this...!"

Sora shook his head "You're an even bigger idiot then, Ansem." His eyes started closing

"I've already been through hell..."

As the last bits of Ansem faded away, Sora collasped back into Kairi's arms, unconscious. Kairi had barely any time to react to this before she saw the Heartless inside of Kingdom Hearts. She set Sora down and rushed to the door, trying to close it on her own. Another hand latched on from the inside

"That's it Kairi! Keep pushing!"

She stopped, seeing Riku pulling the doors closed. He snapped at her "I can't do this by myself-WOAH!"

Kairi yanked him through the door, saying "I am NOT leaving you in there."

"But King Mickey-"

The very same mouse dispatched more Heartless, then rushed over to seal the door "Riku, I'm fine, just get the door closed-"

"Dad! No! You can't!" Kairi cried, but Riku then pushed her away "Kairi! seal the doo-"

"Not when my DAD is in there-"

"Kairi, close it please!" A woman cried from inside. She was unseen among the Heartless, but the sparks of combat signaled she was fighting for her life. She then added "Riku! I give you mastery of the Land of Departure!"

Riku looked confused, but then nodded in agreement with her earlier statement "The Heartless will destroy everything! Only a Keyblade of Light can seal the door from this side."

"Why don't you do it then?!" Kairi yelled, tears breaking down her face.

Mickey gently held her hand through the door, saying "Kairi, there will always be a door to the light." He squeezed it reassuringly "I'm not going to be lost forever."

Kairi squeezed it back, then let it go and backed up. The doors shut, and Kairi raised her Keyblade to the sky as light gathered around it. A beacon shot into the darkness above, and the door to Kingdom Hearts vanished. Riku caught Kairi as she buckled with grief, then asked "Hey, where's Sora-"

"Over there- what is that?" The reminants of the light from Kingdom Hearts was washing over the landscape, engulfing the remains of destroyed worlds in a healing wave. Kairi tried to at least grab Sora's hand so they wouldn't get separated, but Riku held her back as the light consumed them all.

They felt themselves being pulled away to a new world.

* * *

WE ARE DONE WITH PART ONE! (Magic sparkles go everywhere.)

stay tuned for part two guys!

EDIT: part two is up and under the title of "Broken Heroes"


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